Those Who Wander are Quite Lost Part II
by Pipkin in the Grass
Summary: The Two Teams. As Team Minato becomes more wrapped up in the war to defend Arda, they grow less content in leaving things be. But the playing field is complicated by the arrival of another team, sent to return the lost team home. Continued in Part III
1. Chapter 1

_**Those Who Wander are Quite Lost Part II: The Two Teams.**_

**AN****:**

**Thank You Purple Pallbearer, FireheartNinja, and DreamingIn2Enternity for the awesome reviews**

**To DreamingIn2Eternity: For some reason unknown to me I put my response to your helpful comment on the last chapter of Part I. Thank you for your support. **

**To FireheartNinja: Thank you so much for compliment! I have BIG plans for Helms Deep. On David Bowie-sama-sempai-san-sama-kun's lighting blade, I am not sure if he created it yet. But since I have all but killed Naruto canon, it will find it's way in.**

**No update tomorrow, Sorry guys/gals **

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><p>It did not take long for the Three Hunters and five shinobi to pick up the <em>Oni's<em> trail. Soon the forested landscape gave way to rocky plains, a view quite similar to the Land of Earth.

"The sunset is lovely," commented Rin. Rin was beginning to show signs of fatigue, which worried the jōnin. They had been running nonstop since they picked up the Uruk-hai's trail in the woods at late morning. Minato was incerdibly impressed with the stamina of the three non-shinobi. The elf was the least surprising of the three while Gimli was the most. Although he was the last runner, the dwarf was keeping up with the group.

"Indeed it is," replied Minato. He squinted off into the distance. Hoshi had volunteered to scout on the _oni's_ position an hour earlier and still had not returned. That worried the yellow-haired man. Kakashi, who was in the rear with Gimli, moved forward, allowing a weary Rin to drop back.

"Something is strange with these plains," the masked boy said as he approached his teacher. "I feel as if we are being watched,"

Minato nodded in agreement. "Be on your guard. I feel that we are no longer the only shinobi here on Arda,"

There was a shout from further up the line. It was Obito, and he seemed to have spotted something.

"Hoshi! What the hell are you doing here? Why didn't you return?"

The tall boy's hands were subtly held in a tigar seal as he peered up at the indignant Uchiha.

"The Uruk-Hai have decided to rest not ten minutes from here as the crow flies," he said as the rest of the group. "I suggest that we use this time to replenish our strenght,"

Gimli promptly sat down on a flat rock, breathing heavily. Aragorn sat on the ground with his back against a smooth stone. All the shinobi sat near Hoshi, crosslegged. Only Legolas decided to remain standing. The injured ranger was doing his best to catch his breath, his dark head nodding forward in exaustion.

"How much-_hah-_time-_hah-_do you think-_hah_- we have?" he panted out. Minato offered the thirsty man his water bottle, with Aragorn gratefully took.

Hoshi's brow furrowed in concentration. "Anywhere between twenty minutes to an hour. Rest, do what you need to do. We will keep watch and wake you when it is time to go,"

As soon as the words left the boy's lips, Gimli tipped backwards and began snoring. Legolas shook his head.

"I will hold you to your promise, shinobi," he said, before walking off. Aragorn yawned and handed the water bottle back to Minato.

"Thank you," the man murmured before wrapping his elven cloak around him before dropping off to sleep.

The shinobi was also impressed by Aragorn and Gimli's ability to simply fall asleep. But he had to ask Hoshi a few questions...

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><p>Team 7 sat around a fire, boiling a kettle of water to purify it. Kakashi was glad that Rin was extra cautious with the water. He had gotten sick from drinking unclean water during his first out-of-village mission. Needless to say, the Hatake was not keen on repeating the experience.<p>

"Are the Uruk-hai under a genjutsu?" asked Minato-sensei while taking a bite of lembas bread. Kakashi was slightly surprised that Sensei was actually eating the weird bread. It did fill one up, but it also caused the shinobi's chakra levels to spike in dangerously high levels. Kakashi turned to Hoshi. The boy's eyes were half-closed and glazed over.

"Oi, Hoshi," Obito poked the boy on his pale cheek. He snorted and turned his head away.

Kakashi sighed. The masked protigy walked over to his slumbering teammate. Putting a finger on Hoshi's shoulder, Kakashi shocked him.

Hoshi jumped, giving an oddly quiet yelp. He gave Kakashi a look, then turned to Minato-sensei.

"Yes, I put them under _Nehan Shōja no Jutsu _for a bit. I plan to release them in an hour," he said sleepily.

The yellow-haired man nodded. Obito then jumped into the conversation.

"So we can rescue Merry and Pippin tomorrow?" he asked.

Hoshi shook his head. "We must leave the hobbits in the possession of the Uruk-hai. They will then escape into Fangorn forest, meet the Ents, then persuade them to fight on our behalf. If we rescue them, none of that will happen," he said, digging through his backpack. The beaten and dirty boy pulled out a flute out of the pack. "Just relax and let things unfold. Things are going quite smoothly, so it seems that our arrival has not shifted things too much."

_"And lets keep things that way," _his grey eyes threatened. Kakashi managed to stifle a yawn.

"Go to sleep, Kakashi, Rin," said Minato. "Obito and I will take first watch,"

Rin and the silver-haired boy nodded. They wrapped the strange cloaks around themselves and lay down with their backs to the fire and their heads near one another. Hoshi began to play a soothing lullaby on the flute

"Kakashi?" whispered Rin.

"Hmm?" he hummed, listening.

"Why can't we help these people more? I know Hoshi wants to keep things as they are, but did Boromir really need to die? And what if Merry and Pippin die because we didn't help them?"

Kakashi was silent, then responded. "You are mad that Hoshi kept us out of that battle," he responded tonelessly.

"Am not!" she hissed indignantly. "Minato-sensei gave him on of his kunai! Sensei could've helped at least-"

She was cut off by a sharp note from Hoshi's flute. As soon as Rin went quiet, the gentle melody returned.

"That kunai was meant for Frodo," Kakashi said in a scolding manner. "Besides, Minato-sensei approved of Hoshi's idea. And we got to clean the laundry,"

Rin released a heavy sigh. "I just hope the halflings are okay," she whispered.

Kakashi smiled under his mask as he closed his eyes. "They will be Rin-san. Hoshi has met them before,"

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><p>A routine was more or less established for the following two days. Hoshi would scout ahead and put a form of time wasting genjutsu on the Uruk-hai for an hour, allowing the Three Hunters and shinobi to rest. After an hour was up, Hoshi would rouse anyone who was sleeping then release the Uruk-hai from the genjutsu when the group had shortened the gap between the the hobbit-napping band and the Eight Hunters. Food was consumed on the run, much to Hoshi's frustration. Obito did his best to keep up with his long-legged foster brother, who seemed to be born to run across land like this. But the grey-eyed boy just couldn't eat while moving.<p>

"C'mon Hoshi," Obito said while taking a bite out of an _Origiri_. "You have to eat,"

His companion turned slightly green while watching him eat. "I prefer not to,"

Obito put another burst of chakra into his legs to keep at pace. "Why not?" he asked, panting slightly.

Hoshi shrugged his thin shoulders. "It makes me ill,"

The Uchiha shook his head. It amazed him that Aragorn, Legolas, and especially Gimli kept up with the shinobi. Granted, they were not going at full speed, but it was amazing never the less.

Another thing that impressed the shinobi was Aragorn's tracking skills. Relying only on day old footprints, vibrations, even the _Oni's_ waste, they trailed the creatures day in and day out.

The third morning was a perticularly difficult one in Obito's eyes. Neither he, nor Minato-sensei could stop yawning. Gimli looked surprisingly refreshed and Aragorn appeared to be rather drained. Legolas looked just like himself, pristine and alert. Obito really envied the elf for that reason

"Hey, Rin-san," he asked. "Do you have any sort of caffine?" Once again, the goggle-wearing boy stifled a yawn behind his hand.

"What is caffine?" asked Legolas. The elf seemed to be distrustful of all the shinobi, Minato-sensei the least and Hoshi the most.

Rin dug through her backpack. "Caffine is a chemical found in tea, coffee, apple seeds and..."

she pulled out a thin scroll. "chocolates," she answered the curious blonde.

Unfurling the scroll, Rin released a seal, removing a chocolate bar. The brunette snapped the bar into bits, handing pieces to everybody.

Aragorn looked at the sweet strangely. " What is this?" he asked, sniffing it.

Minato-sensei looked at the ranger, stunned. "Why it is only one of the best things you could ever have to keep you moving! Have you never seen chocolate?"

Legolas choaked slightly on his piece. Kakashi patted the elf on the back.

"Shouldn't we get moving?" asked Hoshi. The boy was sitting on a rock dipping the chocolate into honey.

Aragorn nodded, and shoved the candy into his mouth. Scanning the ground with his eyes, the ranger found the direction to go.

"Let's go,"

The spot quickly cleared out so that only Gimli, Obito and Hoshi were left.

"They run fast, don't they, laddie?" he said to Obito. The Uchiha shrugged and turned to Hoshi.

"I guess. This is more of a walking pace for us, Master Gimli," answered Obito.

The shocked dwarf's jaw dropped. Hoshi stood up.

"Let's get going. We have quite the distance to cover,"

Nodding in agreement, Gimli, Obito and Hoshi took off after the other Hunters.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:**

**Thank You FireheartNinja for reviewing and putting this story on your alert list!**

**Sorry for the lateness, I had an Ethics project due tomorrow...**

**But enough excuses! I hope this is satisfactory.**

**Reviews=Inspiration+Improvements=A (possibly) better story**

**Thank You for the support!**

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><p>Legolas felt jumpy. His bright blue eyes scanned the landscape, looking for any sign of the Uruk-hai. The elf was incredibly uneasy, it felt as if someone was watching them. Up ahead, Minato was beside Aragorn, who was lying his head against the ground. Kakashi was perched upon a rock, as was Rin. Aragorn slowly life his head.<p>

"Their pace has quickened," the ranger said, troubled. "They must have caught our scent,"

"They are about twelve miles from here," added Minato. "I suggest that we hurry,"

Both men started off, along with Kakashi. Legolas jumped when Hoshi darted past him. Rin stayed where she was.

Legolas turned around to see Gimli making his way along the rocks. Obito was nearby, looking faintly amused.

"Come along, Gimli!" he called urgently. The elf felt a nagging urge to run, which wasn't born from their hunt. His keen ears caught the slow dwarf's grumblings.

"Three days of persuit, with little rest and norishment. With no sign of our quarry but what bare rock can tell!"

"Hoshi has seen them," Obito added politely.

"Ah! But what has he done about it?" Gimli growled. " That boy must have his reasons, which I care not to know,"

The axe-whilder had expressed a sentiment that had been common amoung the Three Hunters. The shinobi boasted of being able to cross hundreds of miles of any terrain within a day. Minato was often praised by Hoshi as being the fastest shinobi in their world. So why haven't they rescued Merry and Pippin?

_"Two Hobbits are free,_

_The Ents will go to war._

_The great eye shall see,_

_That Isengard will fall."_

Legolas nearly tripped when he heard Hoshi chant another strange poem. The boy did have a reason. But like Gimli, the blonde elf was not keen on knowing just what that reason was.

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><p>Aragorn decided that he rather liked this "chocolate". He had never felt more alert or energized before in his long life. Besides, it had a good, if not a bit bitter, taste. Aragorn's sharp grey eyes scanned the rocky ground, looking for tracks. The man couldn't help but feel a bit of pride when Minato complimented his tracking skills. The shinobi were accomplished trackers themselves, rarely missing anything. But as they entered a sort of gully, the strangers eyes seemed to have missed something.<p>

Aragorn crouched down to pick up a pin in the shape of a mallorn leaf, which Kakashi and Minato seemed to have missed.

"Not lightly do the leaves of Lothlorien fall," he murmured at the same time as Hoshi. Legolas gave the both of them an odd look, which soon changed to a hopeful one.

"They may yet be alive," he said, as the ranger stood up, preparing to run.

_*"They are alive,"*_ Hoshi grumbled, looking irritated. Aragorn chose to ignore the boy's unintelligble mutterings.

"They are less than a day ahead of us," he stated, feeling hopeful.

Behind him, Gimli tumbled down the hill, groaning. Legolas turned around to the sturdy dwarf.

"Come, Gimli!" he called. "We are gaining on them!"

"I am wasted on cross country!" The red-head complained. "We dwarves are natural sprinters! Put me down, laddie, I am not infirm!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Aragorn saw Obito team up with Hoshi to carry the dwarf along.

The Dunedain couldn't help but smile at the sight of proud Gimli being carried by two children. But there were more serious things to concentrate on. Running up the crest of the rock, Aragorn was rewarded with a spectacular view, one that Kakashi, Minato and Rin were admiring.

"What is this land?" asked Kakashi. "The air is filled with malice, as if the land is against our cause,"

Worry was in all three of their eyes. Obito and Hoshi then strode up, placing a protesting Gimli down. Obito became visibly paler.

"Hoshi," he hissed. "You never mention a land that is covered in genjutsu,"

The boy looked confused. "That is because there is none. You are looking upon Rohan, home of the Horselords,"

Legolas ran further ahead, looking out into the distance.

"There is clearly a master of genjutsu here," said Kakashi, and agitatied look in his eyes.

Aragorn ignored the shinobi's conversation and turned toward the elf.

"Legolas," he called. "What do your elf eyes see?"

The blonde lended forward, straining his eyes.

"The Uruks head northeast," he responded calmly. Then realization hit the elf like a ton of bricks.

"They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!" he cried.

Aragorn was stunned. It was so obvious, how could he not have seen it?

The currently quarreling shinobi stopped speaking for a second.

"What did he say?" they all said.

"Isengard, the fortress of Saruman, the white wizard. He is Sauron's ally," explained Hoshi.

Minato had a frusterated look on his face.

"Just brilliant. Now the bloody eye of more-doors has death wizard as an ally. This is near hopeless,"

Aragorn was surprised by the sunny man's pessamism and his lack of knowledge of the Traitor.

"No one told you of the Istari Saruman?" he asked as they began running again.

The yellow-haired man shook his head. "Why should Hoshi tell me every little detail? It is not as if he controls a country, eh, Hoshi?"

The lanky child blushed scarlet. "Your knowledge would make no difference, Sensei. You could slaughter half his army, so that is not a problem,"

Rin shook her head. "It would make a difference, Hoshi-kun. We could go kill him and be done with one enormous problem,"

The child's grey eyes turned steely. "It is a problem that will fix itself out in the end most beautifully if we act at the right moment. That moment is not now,"

Aragorn couldn't help but feel a bit of unease at Hoshi's expression. The boy clearly knew more about the current events than he did, and was manipulating them to his advantage. But to lose Hoshi's allegiance was to lose the shinobi's allegiance. And Aragorn desperately did not want that to happen.

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><p>For once, there were no stops as the eight people ran through the dark. Kakashi was beginning to feel drained. While the stars were forgivingly bright, they simply painted things in smudges of black and lighter black. So it was not so surprising when his teammates began stumbling.<p>

_Thud_

"Fu-!" snarled Obito. Kakashi managed to make out a black smudge hopping around, cluching it's foot. Before he could even deingh to snicker at his unfortunate teammate, he slammed his left foot against a rock.

"Son of a-!" he hissed. Rin and Sensei didn't seem to be having any trouble with the stones at all, which frusterated the Hatake. Neither did any of the Three Hunters. But he couldn't see Hoshi anywhere. Hobbling over to Obito, he asked:

"Do you know where Hoshi is?" he asked.

The black smudge with dark orange goggles displayed a grin of grey teeth.

"He twisted his ankle somewhere near the small stream. Minato-sensei is carrying him,"

Kakashi turned his dark eyes to the super-large smudge a few feet away from them. He would have assumed that Hoshi was asleep if not for his singing.

_"Anata ga saikin taiken shita _

_Shiawase wa ittai nandesu ka? _

_Megumaresugite ite_

_Omoidasenai kamo!"_

Kakashi was slightly surprised to hear both Rin and Sensei singing along. Obito was also humming.

_"Ima koko ni iru koto_

_Iki wo shite iru koto_

_Tada soredake no koto ga_

_Kiseki dato kidzuku,"_

"Excuse me," Kakashi jumped, luckily over a pesky rock. It was Aragorn, the scary-old eyes gave him away. Heck, the thousand-year old elf had more youth in his eyes than the ranger.

"What is that song about?" he asked.

Kakashi was a bit surprised. "Oh, I think it's about being grateful for what you have, and keeping an eye on the things most precious to you, because they can disappear in an instant,"

"Ah," Aragorn still seemed to be slightly confused.

_"Michika ni aru mono_

_Tsune ni ki wo tsuketeinai to _

_Amari ni chikasugite _

_Miushinatte shimaisou,"_

Everything was silent once again, until a whispery voice sang out.

_"You know the closer you get to something _

_The tougher it is to see it _

_And I'll never take it for granted_

_Let's go,"*_

All the shinobi stopped at once. Kakashi's heart was beating at a million miles an hour.

"That was not any of us," whispered Rin, terror in her voice. "And nobody in Middle Earth knows this song,"

"More specifically, only two people even know that stanza," growled Kakashi. "And I think I know which one is here,"

Hoshi snorted at the irate Hatake. "We will wait 'till sunrise to figure out who had the guts to follow us. Come, the Three Hunters have long since left us,"

Reluctantly, Kakashi followed his teammates, an odd feeling eating at him.

"F-!"

He really needed closed-toe sandels.

*Naruto Shippuden Opening 4: Closer.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:**

**Thank You FireheartNinja and WolfDemon1000 for reviewing! Also thank you to HarbingerLady, 6Lisa9, and Targul for putting this on story alerts. Another thank you goes to Shinigami-Chan17 and child-of-paradox-and-chaos for favoriting!**

**I would like to hear from you guys (not the reviewers, you are all set.) if you have anything to say. Sometimes you don't, but hey.**

**Warning: this chapter goes by slowly, so apologies for that.**

**Thank you all for the support!**

_Elvish  
><em>

_*Japanese*_

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><p><em>"The sun rise is beautiful,"<em> thought Rin as Team 7 and the Three Hunters ran across the plains of Rohan. The land was still covered with what seemed to be a genjutsu, but it had ceased to bother the shinobi when the sun had set last night. The medic had ran alongside Minato-sensei to periodically check up on Hoshi'd twisted ankle. It was healing quickly, which was good news. Hoshi was awake, his eyes scanning the orange-red sky. A grin crossed his face and he turned around to face a certian masked shinobi.

"Hey Kakashi! There is your Morning star!" he said, pointing at the quickly fadeing star. The Hatake snorted and said nothing. Both he and Obito were limping, and their toes were various shades of black and blue. Rin resolved to check out their feet when they make a stop.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Legolas pause to look at the sunrise.

"A red sun rises, blood has been spilled this night," he murmured.

Rin couldn't help but feel a bit of fear for Merry and Pippin.

"Hoshi?"

The odd boy looked down to her. "Yes, Rin-san?"

"If Merry and Pippin are dead, I will make you my personal slave. Got it?" she finished with a smile.

Hoshi grinned. "Well, is it not grand that they are alive?" he said, with a hint of trepidation in his voice.

Minato laughed. "Rin, I hope that you will share your new slave with me if the worst should happen,"

"Oi!" shouted Obito. "You need the Uchiha clan's permission to enslave him, and even then I call dibs!"

Kakashi snickered, shaking his head. Rin was laughing, with tears springing into her eyes.

Aragorn looked back at the shinobi, concerned.

"You should not worry, A-Aragorn," said Hoshi, stuttering slightly on the man's name. "It will only come to pass should the hobbits be dead,"

The tall ranger sighed and shook his head. Rin gave Hoshi an evil smirk.

"You know I ment every word I said," she said smugly.

Hoshi shrugged. "Yes, and I also know that Merry and Pippin are alive,"

"Pray they are," muttered Minato. "For your own sake,"

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><p>Aragorn felt himself dozing off on his feet, again. While the shinobi's constant banter had been helpful at keeping him awake, there was only so much time he could keep going before he fell asleep. The Dunedain found himself pondering last night, more specifically, an event that had all the shinobi anxious and agitated. Who did that whispery voice belong to? And why did it's owner worry the shinobi so?<p>

Aragorn shook his head and refocused on tracking the Uruk-hai. He, Legolas, Gimli and the shinobi paused at the crest of a hill for a breather. The ranger crouched down, scanning the ground for any clues. Then his ears picked up something.

The whinnies of horses and the approaching sound of a large calvery made him look up then run for shelter behind a large outcrop. Legolas and Gimli followed him, arriving to the spot just in time. The strangers were already there, staring in awe as the Rohirrim rode past them.

As the last past them, Aragorn stood up and hailed the horselords.

"Riders of Rohan! What news from the Mark?" he called as he strode out of their shelter, along with Legolas and Gimli. Minato, Kakashi and Obito hung back, but Hoshi and Rin stood alongside him. Rin was supporting Hoshi, who was still limping.

Hearing his call, the Riders turned around and rode back to them. Aragorn was slightly taken aback when they were surrounded and spears were lowered. Wisely, he decided to put his hands up. The two strangers mimicked his gesture.

A man riding a dark grey horse rode up to them. His armor was richly detailed and a commanding air surrounded him.

"What business does a man, an elf, a dwarf and two children have in the Riddermark? Speak quickly!"

Rin looked slightly offended, while Hoshi was faintly smiling.

"Give me your name, Horsemaster, and I shall give you mine!" declared Gimli.

The two children clapped the dwarf on the back. The Eorling did not look to impressed.

The man dismounted and strode toward Gimli, dislike shining in his eyes. Aragorn put his hand in front of Gimli's shoulder to keep him from making any rash moves.

"I would cut off your head, _Dwarf_," the Rider spat. "If it stood but a little higher from the ground,"

Rin was looking very irate, and off by the outcrop, Aragorn could see Minato and Kakashi holding an angry Obito back. In the circle, however, an infuriated Legolas had drawn his bow.

"You would die before your sword fell!" he coldly declared.

Aragorn carefully pushed down Legolas' bow so it was not aimed at the Rider. Gimli looked surprised, while Rin was clearly ready to punch the man. He turned toward the Rider, with an apologetic look on his face.

"I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Gimli son of Gloin, and Legolas of the Woodland realm. We are friends of Rohan, and of Théoden, your King,"

The man seemed to be slightly pacifed. "And the children, what about them?"

Aragorn turned to Hoshi. The boy turned to the Eorling.

"My loyalty lies with my friends and family. Aragorn is my friend, and his friend are then my friends. You shall expect no treason to come from myself or my friend,"

The Rider peered at them. Rin's eyes widened slightly.

"You have encountered someone like us, haven't you?" she asked. He gave her a cagey look.

"A small girl, dressed strangely and wearing a headband like yours asked for directions to Isengard. She could run faster than our horses, and was rather rude,"

Rin nodded, satisfied with the discription. Hoshi gave the Rider a weak smile.

"How fares your King?" he asked. The Eorling seemed to deflate.

"Théoden no longer recognizes friend from foe," he removed his helmet, revealing long blonde hair. "Not even his own kin. Saruman has poisoned his mind and claimed lordship over his lands,"

Aragorn was deeply disturbed. That did explain the dark feeling over the land and the shinobi's conviction that the land was under a controlling illusion.

"My company are those loyal to Rohan. And for that we are banished,"

Hoshi's eyes narrowed slightly and his grip on Rin's shoulder tightened.

"The White Wizard is cunning," continued the Rider. "Some say he walks here and there. There is an old man, hooded and cloaked," the man's blue eyes looked into his, suspicious. "Everywhere his spies slip past our nets,"

Aragorn understood the Eorling's worry, as he informed the man of their purpose.

"We are no spies. We track a party of Uruk-hai westward across the plain. They have taken two of our friends captive,"

The Rider's reply was surprisingly quick. "The Uruks are destroyed, we slaughtered them during the night,"

There was a sudden yelp as Rin lunged forward, with Hoshi clinging on to her neck.

_*"Calm down! They escaped into Fangorn! It was a fortunate accident, They aren't dead!"*_ he screamed in the odd, choppy language. The enraged girl calmed down, giving the Rider an intense glare.

Gimli ignored the shinobi's out burst. "But they were two hobbits, did you see two hobbits with them?" he desperately asked.

"No taller than me!" added the brunette, a fierce expression on her face.

The man looks rather saddened. "We left none alive. We piled the carcesses and burned them," he gestured off into the distance

Aragorn followed the Rider's gesture to see a large plume of smoke billowing in the wind.

_"No..."_ he thought,_ "they couldn't be..."_

"They're dead? Gimli whispered hoarsely.

The Eorling gave him a small nod. "I am sorry," he said sincerely.

Hoshi shook his head. _"Luck has not abandoned Merry and Pippin,"_ he whispered to Aragorn as the Horselord whistled for two horses. _"They will have a part to play in the scheme of things, Estel,"_

Aragorn looked into the boy's shapphire-grey eyes, wondering how the child could be so hopeful. The Rider presented the Hunters with two horses.

"May these horses bare you to better fortune than their former masters," he said, a mournful look in his eyes. "Farewell,"

The Eorling mounted his horse and turned toward Aragorn one last time.

"Look for your friends, but do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands,"

The Rider yelled out a command in Rohirric, and they rode off, leaving the Three Hunters and shinobi behind.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:  
><strong>

**Thank You Purple Pallbearer, and Deadzepplin for reviewing! Thank you foxxy nine-tails, Lordequinox, and Deadzepplin for favoriting! And Thank you to Heatherbell, foxxy nine-tails, Purple Pallbearer for putting this on their Story alerts!**

**Purple Pallbearer: You are correct about the OCs. I will only put two in and I will push them into the background as much as possible. However, they have been floating around in my head for sometime, and I hope that I do well with them. The suspense will continue for a few more chapters. As for the songs, Glad that you like them! I look more for the meanings. For example, I like Long kiss Goodbye, but it mentions a cellphone in a verse, so out it goes.**

**Please review, let me know what you guys/gals think.**

**Thank You!**

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><p>When the Riders disappeared from sight, the three other shinobi walked out to where the Three Hunters, Rin and Hoshi were standing with the horses.<p>

"So we are to go over there?" asked Obito pointing his chin towards the plume of smoke.

Aragorn nodded. "We hope to find Merry and Pippin there," he said while mounting his brown horse. Obito hoped that Hoshi was correct in saying that the hobbits were alive. If they weren't... Well, eternal servitude to Team Minato would be considered too kind.

Legolas was riding the white horse, with a reluctant Gimli perched behind him. Minato-sensei seemed to have seen that and turned to Aragorn.

"Would you mind having Hoshi ride with you?" he asked. "I believe that it would be a bit easier, and a lot more conveniant,"

The ranger gave it some thought. "Hoshi," the boy looked up to him. "Can you ride?"

The lanky child nodded. "More or less. I am better in a saddle than on bare back,"

"You should be fine," said Aragorn, walking the horse near the boy. Hoshi pulled himself onto the horse's back with surprising ease.

"All set?" asked Minato with a chipper grin. "Then let's go,"

* * *

><p>Eldarion was not very pleased with his position. He was afraid to hold onto Aragorn like Gimli was to Legolas, so he ran chakra through his hands and other parts of his body to keep from falling off the galloping horse. The dwarf shot him a sympathetic look, which Eldarion returned. The ranger's son prefered and trusted his own two feet more than a horse's four hooves.<p>

The mound of charred orc carcasses quickly came into view. He noticed Kakashi's look of disgust upon seeing an Uruk-hai's head placed upon a stake.

"How barberic," sneered Kakashi, spitting at the head.

When Aragorn dismounted, Eldarion decided not to. It would be safer to be on a horse than on the ground when Team Minato's inevitable anger. Legolas and Gimli had also dismounted, and the dwarf was picking through the pile with his axe. Minato-sensei and Obito dug into the burnt pile, too, while Kakashi and Rin stood near Legolas and Aragorn. Then, Gimli found something.

"It's one of their belts," he said sadly, holding up an intricate piece of leather.

Rin's eyes widened while Kakashi's narrowed. Obito and Minato-sensei pulled their sooty heads out of the corpse pile.

He heard Legolas murmur a prayer for the hobbits in Sindrian. Eldarion did his best to move into the saddled as subtlely as he could.

Aragorn suddenly kicked a helmeted orc head and let out a scream of grief, an action that caused all the shinobi to jump. The ranger collapsed to the ground, looking defeated.

"We failed them," whispered Gimli.

Obito was furious. "All you found was a bloody belt, so don't go jumping to conclusions! We are gonna keep digging and you guys are gonna keep looking!"

"Indeed," added Kakashi. "The ground tells many secrets, and fortunately we have some one who can understand them,"

Aragorn gave the two shinobi a mournful look before turning his keen eyes on the ground beside him.

"A hobbit lay here," he leaned forward. "And the other,"

A look sparked in the rangers eyes as he followed a trail seen only by him.

"He crawled," he said standing up to continue forward. "Their hands were bound,"

Aragorn knelt down and uncovered a piece of rope, severed. Everyone watched with a mixture of fascination and suspense.

The man stood up, his eyes pulled else where. "Their bonds were cut,"

Eldarion was entralled by his _Ada's_ tracking abilities. As he was too young to join his father's hunting trips, he had only seen this talent manifest in finding lost objects.

"They ran over here, " he paused for a bit as he followed the tracks. "They were followed,"

Eldarion nearly gave a snort of laughter as the ranger was closely followed by Legolas, Gimli, Minato, Kakashi, and Rin. Obito stayed alongside him.

"They sped away from the battle, into Fangorn forest." Aragorn ended with a near whisper, at the edge of the trees.

"See!" yelled Obito. "What did I tell you?" Eldarion rolled his eyes at his foster brother.

But he turned his focus back to the group by the trees. Minato-sensei was addressing Aragorn.

"I believe that it would be wiser for only you three to enter Fangorn while we stay on the outskirts. These trees seem to hold a resentment for our kind, and I would prefer not to irritate them,"

Aragorn gave him a small frown. "But how would you find us again?" he asked, concerned.

His soot-covered sensei unbuckled one of the conpartments on his flak jacket. A thin scroll fell into his hand.

"This is a tracking scroll. It will give me your location for about four days through it's partner scroll," he pointed to a different compartment on the jacket. Minato-sensei gave the scroll to Aragorn.

"We will take care of the horses, and follow you on the outskirts of the forest. I wish you luck,"

With that, the Three Hunters disappeared into Fangorn forest.

* * *

><p>Minato immediately unfurled the scroll. A detailed, up close map appeared, with different colored dots indicating Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli and...<p>

"Gandalf!" he cried. Everyone looked up.

Hoshi walked his horse while leading the other over to the jōnin. Obito followed him.

"Gandalf was reincarnated from Grey to White after he killed the Balrog," he said.

Minato looked up with shock. "That terrible thing of fire and shadow? The Old man defeated it?" he asked.

Hoshi sighed. "And we will never hear the end of it. Should we get going?"

Minato nearly chuckled. He had been informed that Hoshi was born a prince, so it was not surprising when the tall boy's voice took a commanding tone.

"Aye, aye, _Taichō_," mocked Kakashi, saluting him. Hoshi scowled at the masked chūnin.

"Alright, Alright," chuckled Minato. "Let's go,"

* * *

><p>Aragorn was pleasently surprised to find the shinobi waiting for them with the two horses when they exited Fangorn.<p>

"Welcome back, Gandalf the White," they chorused.

The Istari was delighted to see them. "So you have decided to stay on?" he said cheerfully. "No need to worry, I will see to it that you are richly rewarded for your services,"

They bowed, thanking him. "Merry and Pippin are alright, right?" asked Rin, concern etched on her face.

"Indeed they are, young medic. You do not need to worry about them,"

As Gandalf whistled for his horse, Aragorn walked over to Hoshi.

"How is your ankle?" he had been meaning to ask the question earlier, but other things got in the way.

"It's fine, I guess," Hoshi lifted the ankle for him to see. "Rin put it in a splint, she told me that I shouldn't walk on it yet,"

Aragorn examined the splint. It was made of metal, cloth and other strange material. It's fastenings piqued his curiosity.

"Interesting material," he said, looking at the black split. Hoshi shrugged.

"It is too strange for me. I do not care for it," he said, gesturing to the fastenings.

Aragorn decided that now was not the time to ponder about the shinobi's clothes. Rin was a good healer, as there was little to no swelling in Hoshi's ankle. He gently released the ankle, allowing the boy to place it against the horse.

Aragorn then turned his attention to a white horse that was approaching them.

"That is one of the Mearas, unless my eyes are decived my some spell," murmured Legolas, peering at the horse.

"Shadowfax," introduced Gandalf. "He is the Lord of all horses and has been my friend through many dangers," he said while stoaking Shadowfax's white coat.

Minato, despite his smile, looked confused. "Excuse me," he asked. "But what is a Mearas?"

Gandalf answered him. "Mearas are the strongest, fastest and most intelligent horses in all of Middle Earth. They are capable of understanding languages,"

Minato's smile only got wider. "We have animals like that at home. Shinobi can enter a contact with a perticular species which allows them to summon the animal to fight alongside them. Some summons can even speak,"

The Istari returned the smile. "I assume you have such a contract, yes? Could you demonstrate how it works later?" Gandalf asked.

Minato's smile got so wide his eyes disappeared. "I would be delighted to!"

His students all gave him a look and said in unison:

"Don't summon Gamabunta!"

The jōnin deflated. "You always have to spoil my fun," he pouted.

Aragorn chuckled at the scene. Gandalf then mounted Shadowfax, turning his head to the shinobi.

"Will you join us to Edoras?" he asked.

Obito grinned "Heck yes! Aragorn has Hoshi after all, and we can't have him having all the fun!"

Aragorn found himself laughing at the boy's comment as he mounted the horse. Hoshi had slid back off the saddle, sitting like Gimli, who was unhappily perched behind Legolas.

"Where and what is Edoras anyway?" asked Rin to nobody in perticular.

"Edoras is Rohan's capital city," responded Hoshi. "I have a feeling that you might like it,"

Rin shrugged as she started to run ahead. "As long as nothing strange happens,"

Aragorn heard Hoshi sigh. The boy moved closer to him, laying his head on his shoulder.

_"Everything we encounter is strange, is it not Ada?"_ he whispered.

Aragorn stiffened slightly. He was not sure if Hoshi was addressing him or not. The elf-like boy unnerved him quite a bit, especially since the boy sometimes reminded him of himself.

_"All that is gold does not glitter, _

_Not all those who wander are lost; _

_The old that is strong does not wither, _

_Deep roots are not reached by the frost. _

_From the ashes a fire shall be woken,_

_A light from the shadows shall spring; _

_Renewed shall be blade that was broken, _

_The crownless again shall be king."_

Hoshi half-sung, half-mumbled into Aragorn's shoulder. The ranger began to ponder on Frodo's theory on the tall boy's origins.

_"Frodo," _he thought.

"He is fine," Hoshi whispered. "He has Sam, and he is strong. Frodo will not fail," The boy yawned.

"How are you are so sure of it?" he asked.

The horse reared up slightly, so Hoshi quickly wrapped his arms around Aragorn's torso to keep from falling off.

"Think about it. Do you not have that feeling that he was meant to succeed?"

"Making prophecies again, Hoshi?" came a teasing voice. Aragorn turned to see Kakashi easily keeping pace with the galloping horse.

Hoshi glared at him. "It is going to be sunny and windy tomorrow, if that is what you want to know," he snapped.

The masked shinobi shook his head. "Just be careful, some premonitions are false,"

Hoshi gave his comrade a tired smile. "Most won't be this time,"

Aragorn was given a lot to think about. Exhaling deeply, he urged his steed on to Edoras.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:**

**Thank you Purple Pallbearer for reviewing! Also thank you to Requiem D and LazyPlotBunnies for favoriting!**

** Sorry for nagging, but please review! I hope you are findning everything alright so far. If not, well, thre is always the reveiw button...**

* * *

><p>It was around the middle of the morning when the group reached the outskirts of Edoras. Kakashi closed his eyes against the wind. The city was built atop a large, rocky hill, standing high above the windswept plains of Rohan. He and the rest of Team Minato were waiting for the others on horseback, having out-paced them a few mile back. The Hatake opened his eyes when he heard the pounding of hooves and the heavy breathing of the horses approach them.<p>

"Edoras, and the golden hall of Meduseld; There dwells Theoden, king of Rohan," said Gandalf. "Whose mind is overthrown. Saruman's hold on him is very strong,"

The situation reminded him of the rumors that Kiri's Mizukage was being controlled through a genjutsu, being nothing more than a puppet. Anyone who opposed the regime disappeared, only to turn up in pieces, instead of merely being banished.

"Be careful what you say," cautioned Gandalf. "For you will not find welcome here,"

Spurring Shadowfax forward, the Old man led the motley crew to Edoras.

Kakashi ajusted his stride so he was running alongside Aragorn's horse.

"Hoshi," he called out to his teammate. The grey-eyed boy turned to face him.

"Yes?" he asked in a slightly bored tone.

"If this guy's mind is out of commission due to the death wizard, who is in charge around here?" Kakashi asked.

"I would like to know that myself," added Minato, dropping back to listen.

Hoshi frowned, turning his eyes skyward in thought.

"A cowardly bug name Grima Wormtongue, the king's adviser and spy to Saruman is in control," he answered.

Aragorn looked back to Kakashi. "Why do you refer to Saruman as the 'death wizard'?" heasked, looking slightly confused.

Kakashi blinked. "White represents death, does it not?" he said, baffled.

The man shook his head. "Black represents death here," he answered. "White represents purity and the Light,"

"Ah," mutter Kakashi. He believed the differences in color representation of death really said something about the people of Middle Earth. But just as he was to enter into Edoras, a thick, heavy piece of cloth was dropped onto his head.

Cursing at the wind, Kakashi gave Hoshi a chilling glare as the boy bit back a grin. Pulling the cloth off his head, he saw that it has a white horse galloping arcoss the green field with the sun at it's back. Shrugging, he wrapped it around his neck and followed Aragorn and Hoshi into the Horselord's city.

* * *

><p>Obito readjusted his goggles again. He had put them on to keep the winds on the plain from irritating him and had yet to take them off. Obito noticed Rin pull the elf cloak around her to hide her clothes and Minato-sensei did the same. The locals were staring soloumly at them, and not a single whisper passed their lips.<p>

"You'll find more cheer in a graveyard," grumbled Gimli. Obito silently agreed.

Rin, who was walking beside him whispered to him:

"Aren't the carvings beautiful?" she asked.

The Uchiha had to agree. The woodcarvings on the houses were some of the most intircate and alien works of art he had ever seen. When Kakashi ran up to them, Obito had to swallow his laughter. On top of his cloak, mask and backpack he had draped an heavy green cloth around his shoulders.

"You look ridiculous," he snickered. Kakashi glared at him.

"I am simply returning Rohan's standard back to them," he said coolly. "The wind took it away from them,"

Rin was also trying to hide her amusment. "Whatever rationalizes your poor fashion choices, Kakashi,"

The masked boy gave her a sour look as they stopped at the foot of a staircase. They had been moving slowly uphill towards their destination. The riders dismounted an their horse were taken away by stable hands. Hoshi strolled over to them, his limp was barely noticible.

"What do you think of Edoras?" he asked.

Rin responded eagarly. "It is very pretty, but so sad. Do you think that good cheer will be restored to it if the King is released?"

Hoshi shrugged. "First we have to see the King. Then we shall know,"

* * *

><p>As soon as the group reached the top of the stairs, they were greeted by a group of helmated guards. A helmetless man stepped forward, looking rather apologetic.<p>

"I cannot allow you before the Theoden King so armed, Gandalf Greyham," he paused, reluctantly adding:

"By order of Grima Wormtongue,"

Minato scanned the guard. The man clearly disliked the crooked advisor, but had no choice but to obey the advisor's orders.

Gandalf turned to his companions. Minato watched as Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn handed over all their weapons, while Gandalf only gave them his sword.

The guard peered past the Istari to look at him and his students.

"And your other companions?" he asked.

Gandalf turned to look at the yellow-haired shinobi. Minato then shrugged off his backpack from beneith his cloak, and removed his back pouch and shurikin holster. His students did the same. But before he handed them over to the guards, he gave them a warning.

"Do not attempt to see what we have inside these things. If you do, you will die a long and agonizing death,"

It took a minute before a brave soul relieved him of his weapons pouch, shurikin holster and backpack. Four more brave guards took his student's things.

The lead guard then turned back to Gandalf. "Your staff," he requested.

"Oh, you would not part an old man from his walking stick?" he cheerfully pleaded.

_*"Bullshit,*_ Minato heard Hoshi mumble through faked coughing and had to hide a smile.

But the guard seemed to let it slide and led the group in. Gandalf leaned on Legolas to support the illusion that he needed a walking stick.

The golden hall was quite magnificent, despite the malignant atmosphere. At the end of the hall sat Theoden, King of Rohan. And next to the king sat his advisor, Grima Wormtongue.

Minato had to fight from letting his feelings of disgust show. Grima looked like Orochimaru of the Sannin had lost a good portion of his IQ and forsworn hygine and good taste in clothes. Minato had no idea where to start with the King, so he just let it go.

The heavy wooden doors were closed as soon as they entered the hall. Immediately Minato and the rest of the team looked for exits.

_"There is probably a back door, and the windows look promising," _he thought._ "But then again I could just kick down the door,"_

The jonin also made note of the men trailing them along the walls. They didn't appear to be much of a threat. The worm was whispering into the King's ear, no doubt words against them.

"The courtesy of your hall has somewhat lessened of late, Theoden King," Gandalf addressed the weaken man in a powerful voice.

The greasy man whispered something else into Theoden's ear, causing the man to raise his head.

"Why...should I welcome you, Gandalf Stormcrow?" he spoke slowly and flatly. Minato was shocked that someone hadn't addressed the problem earlier. This man was far gone in the genjutsu that held sway over him. Thw worm left the Kings side, declaring:

"Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear,"

"What are you talking about, it's barely midday!' declared Obito. Minato closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. All gazes fell upon the Uchiha. Grima's pasty face curled into a sneer.

"And just who are you to question me?" he hissed.

"Gandalf's minion," Obito responded with pride. The advisor turned his attention back to the Old man.

"So you have gone as far to poison the minds of children?" he snarled slightly.

"Be silent," siad Gandalf, clearly annoyed. "Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth! I have not passed through fire and death to deal with a witless worm" he finished, almost shoving his staff into the advisor's face.

"His staff," gasped Wormtongue. "I told you to take the wizard's staff!"

The men from the walls moved in, attempting to take Gandalf's staff. Minato quickly intercepted two, grabbing their collars and smashing their heads together. His students attacks a couple, knocking them out in a matter of seconds. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli weren't half bad at taijutsu either. Minato became dimly aware of the power radiating off Gandalf. In the corner of his eye, he saw Gimli and Obito each put a foot on Grima's thin chest.

"I release you from this spell," Gandalf whispered, holding out his staff and hand toward the afflicted King. Instead of doing anything, the man laughed.

"You have no power here, Gandalf the Grey," he sneered.

The Old wizard simply cast off his grey cloak, revealing that he was clad in white. Minato felt a ripple of chakra go off through the air, and Gandalf's levels triple.

"I will draw you from him like poison from a wound, Saruman," he said evenly, hiding great hatred so well that the jonin could barely tell it existed.

Gandalf seemed to be pushing the force to get out while it fought to stay in. He was beginning to feel sick. The process reminded him too much of the extraction of a bijuu he had seen on a mission to the Village hidden in the Waterfall. Minato felt himself begin to shake.

"If I go," he threatened. "Theoden dies,"

The vision of the broken and bloody body of the tailed beast's former container swam across his eyes. It took every once of his self-control not to vomit right there and then. Minato felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" asked Aragorn. The Yellow Flash swallowed a lump that had formed.

"I will be as soon as this is over," he whispered, thankful for the ranger's concern.

Gandalf forced the power back again. "You did not kill me," he declared. "You will not kill him,"

The possessed King's face twisted into a grimice. "Rohan is mine," snarled the possesser.

"Begone!" he commanded, slamming the King's body back into the throne. For a minute, it writhed there, before jumping forward with a cry. Gandalf met him, seemingly striking the King on the head with his staff. With that it was over.

The King pitched forward and a blonde woman ran forward to catch him. Slowly, the feeble, elderly Theoden regained the color in his cheeks and hair, lost his wrinkles and wild beard, and the spark returned to his eyes. Minato released a breath that he didn't know he was holding. To his surprise, so did his entire team. He walked over to Hoshi, who was looking drained.

"Is that what it was like to extract a bijuu?" he asked. The jonin nodded.

"Very much like that, except that the jinchūriki died horribly,"

Rin walked over to her teacher. "Take this, Minato-sensei," she handed him a flask.

The yellow-haired shinobi shuddered slightly as the medicine flooded through his system. One day Jiraiya-sensei was going to pay for taking him on that trip.

Shaking his head, Minato returned his attention to Theoden King. The King was grasping a long broadsword, which he seemed born to use. Then his eyes locked on the cowering traitor, held in place by Gimli and Obito. Minato held back a cheer when he saw the worm get dragged out the door by two guards. He and his team quickly followed them out, second in line to Theoden himself.

* * *

><p>Kakashi was beside himself with how the situation had turned. If there was one thing all of Konoha, Senju and Uchiha alike, could agree on, was that there was no punishment to harsh for a traitor. It was with morbid delight that he watched Grima Wormtongue get tossed down the stairs. It disgusted him how the sniveling coward tried to save his hide from the properly outraged Theoden.<p>

"Send me not from your sight!" he pleaded while crawling backwards, away from his former thrall. Clearly it was the wrong thing to say.

With a cry, Theoden lifted the sword over his head to smite the turncoat. But Kakashi nearly choaked in shock as Aragorn stopped the King.

"No my Lord!" he cried. Then calming down, he whispered:

"Let him go, enough blood has been split on his account,"

Kakashi saw red. "What do you mean let this traitor go?" he cried, jumping down to grab ahold of the fiend so it wouldn't get away.

"Are you insane?" cried Rin. "Much more blood will be spilt if you let him go!"

"Do not send him from your sight, Theoden King," added Hoshi. "Interrogate him, then kill him. Grima Wormtongue knows Rohan's weaknesses more than Saruman. Let him go, he will flee to Isengard, taking with him all of his knowledge,"

Kakashi was then joined by Minato-sensei in guarding Grima. Aragorn looked distressed.

"Are you incapable of mercy?" he asked.

"It is better to be incapable of mercy than to be incapable of common sense," spat Kakashi.

Much of his respect for the ranger was gone, but not lost. May the Hokages forbid that Aragorn expirience such a lapse of judgement ever again.

While the man seemed unaffected by his words, the ranger's old grey eyes told a different tale.

Theoden must have seen that, for he answered:

"As noble a thing it is to do, my friend, your companions are correct in denying his release. He carries too much information for us to just let him go. Grima's crimes are many, and he must pay for them," Rohan's king turned to Kakashi.

"My I have your name, masked one?" he asked.

"Kakashi. Hatake Kakashi," he said with a bow. He dully realized that it was the first time he said his last name.

Theoden moved on to his teacher.

"Namikaze Minato," he bowed also.

He looked around until his eyes landed on Rin.

"Rin, Theoden King," she smiled and bowed.

Kakashi nearly laughed when he saw the King's eyebrow raise slightly upon seeing Obito and Hoshi.

"I am Uchiha Obito, and this is my brother, Uchiha Hoshi," he slapped his foster brother on the back.

Hoshi gave him a small smile. "My your horses be healthy and your pastures green, Theoden King," he said before giving the ruler a bow.

"Will you take this man to the dungons and make him comfortable for me?" he asked.

"_Hai, Theoden-sama!_" they said in unison, snapping to attention.

The King nodded graciously. "Gamling, will you show them the way?"

The guard who had taken their weapons away bowed. "Of course, my liege," he walked over to where Minato and Kakashi were standing with the worm. "If you would just follow me please," he said. Minato picked up the Advisor and dragged him after Gambling, with Kakashi, Rin, Obito, and Hoshi following close behind.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:**

**Thank You Purple Pallbearer, Deadzepplin, and FireheartNinja for reviewing! Also Thank you GlidingOne for putting this on your Story Alerts!**

**I am glad that most of you (aka, see the reviewers) agree with me about the Worm. Nothing about Aragorn's reasoning made sense, and seeing how shinobi deal with rogue ninja, it was easy to see that Team Minato wasn't going to stand by and let the slimeball go.**

**Thank You again for the reviews. They always make my day.**

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><p>Aragorn found the day to be emotionally draining. After the shinobi's arguments, he could see that his decision was a lack of wisdom on his part. But Hoshi's idea of killing Grima after they found the information they wanted did not sit well with the ranger. But immediately after that scene, Theoden King was given the news of his son, Theodred's untimely death. The funeral was to be held first thing in the morning, and the guests were invited. He remembered the shinobi's reactions to the invitation. It was a mixture of "we are honored," and '' What is expected of us?". The Three Hunters and the five shinobi took the opportunity to clean themselves up. It was a relief to change into new clothes and remove the layers of dirt form his skin. Before the funeral, he ran into the shinobi, who were all dressed alike. He also noted that they lacked any form of footware.<p>

"What happened to your shoes?" he asked, slightly bewildered. The shinobi looked up in surprise.

"We left them at the door," answered Rin. "It was rude of us to barge into the King's house and forget to leave our shoes at the door,"

Aragorn figured that they were acting out of a customary habit of politeness rather than a lapse of sanity.

"I would keep my shoes on, guys," said Hoshi, who was wearing a pair of leather boots. "Keep in mind Meduseld is a drinking hall and sanitation is not top priority at the present time,"

Aragorn was unable to see their reaction to Hoshi's tip because the funeral was just about to start.

* * *

><p>Gimli felt sorry for the young prince of Rohan. The dwarf had heard that he was a promising lad who was grievously injured in an ambush by Saruman's orcs. Theodred had just died the morning they had arrived to Edoras. It was a shame, really. Gimli looked at his companions in the procession. Gandalf had asked him to keep an eye on the shinobi during the funeral, so he walked beside them at the end of the line. Despite their silence, there was an air of unease around them. It wasn't long before they reached the gravemound for Theodred. Gimli idly noticed that only the shinobi and Lady Eowyn, Theoden's niece, were wearing black. The lady began to sing a lamant in Rohirric as the prince was carried into the gravemound. Hoshi was humming along to the the lament until Kakashi stepped on his foot to get him to stop. Then the entrance was closed and Lady Eowyn ended her lament. Slowly, the attendees began to trickle away, returning to their homes.<p>

The shinobi lingered behind and Hoshi pulled out a flute.

"Theoden King," he shyly asked the king. "My we sing a song? We sometimes sing it at funerals and..." he trailed off, ducking his head in embarressment.

The King gave him a watery smile. "I would be honored to hear your song," he said.

Hoshi inhaled and put the flute to his lips. Gimli had never heard a flute produce such strange notes. What was even stranger was the fact he did not put down the flute as Rin began to sing.

_"Haru koro no hana no en_

_Meguru sakazuki kage sashite_

_Chiyo no matsu ga e wake ideshi _

_Mukashi no hikari ima izu ko,"_

The petite brunette had a surprisingly low, but not unpleasent, voice that melded with the flute well. Gimli nearly laughed upon catching the look of awe on the elvish princeling's face. Another voice joined the song, which belonged to Obito.

_"Aki jinei no schimo no iro _

_Nakiyuku kari no kazu misete _

_Uurutsurugi ni terisoishi _

_Mukashi no hikari ima izu ko,"_

The harmony in the voices and flute made the hairs begin to stand on the back of his neck. The foregin language only added to the eerie tone.

_"Ima kojo no yowa no tsuki _

_Kawaranu hikari ta ga tame zo _

_Kaki ni nokoru wa tada kazura _

_Matsu ni uto wa tada arashi,"_

Minato had joined in, his deep voice adding another dimension to the song. Gimli wondered why he had never heard a song sung with musical accompaniment. Then all the voices disappeared except for one.

_"Tenjo kage wa kawaranedo _

_Eiko wa utsuru yo no sugata _

_Utsusan toteka ima mo nao _

_Ah! Kojo no yowa no tsuki,"_

Kakashi's strangely soft voice ended the song, with Hoshi playing the last few notes on the flute. Gandalf spoke first. "What is the name of the song," he asked softly.

Minato answered. "_Koojo no Tsuki_ or Moonlight on the Ruined Castle," There was silence over the graves as the wind blew across the plains. Hoshi bowed to the King.

"I am sorry for your loss, Theoden King," he said before making his way back to Edoras. The rest of the team repeated the words and action before following Hoshi up the hill. Gimli decided to take his leave, bowing to Theoden King before leaving the graves.

* * *

><p>Upon returning to the Golden Hall, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli were offered food and drink, which Gimli and Aragorn accepted and Legolas declined. Rin and Obito were in the hall as well, eating a rather bizzare food with a pair of sticks. Both had changed from their black clothes to their regular clothing, looking very out of place. Legolas walked over to them, intrigued by their food.<p>

"What is that?" he asked, pointing at the long, wormlike substance.

"This," said Obito. " is instant ramen. You just pour boiled water on it, wait for it to cool down, then eat it,"

The elf was interested. "How do you make this 'instant ramen'?" he asked.

The black-haired boy shrugged. "Beats me. All I know is that you buy it in stores,"

That just confused Legolas. "What is a store?" he asked.

Obito turned to Rin. After slurping up the ramen, she answered:

"It is a place where you can buy food and other things, like clothes and flowers,"

She then picked up the cup and drank the broth out of the strange white thing.

"Give me your cup when you finish Obito. I'll seal it back," she said.

The shinobi slurped up his ramen and drained it like Rin.

"Why?" he asked. Rin took the white cup and placed it within hers. She then unfurled a scroll and sealed the two cups away.

"Because there isn't any dumps in Middle Earth," she explained.

"Ah," Obito nodded in understanding.

Aragorn watched the whole exchange with a certain interest.

"How come you are not at the interrogation?" he asked, chewing slightly on his pipe.

Obito's eyes were drawn to his pipe, but he managed to answer the ranger's question.

"I do not know how to conduct an interrogation and neither does Rin," he answered. " And neither of us have any abilites that would be useful,"

Rin frowned at Obito. "But Kakashi doesn't have any abilites that would be useful," she said, confused.

Obito laughed. "Nah, he's just the guard," he said, folding his hands behind his head.

Aragorn took a drag on the pipe weed, musing over what he had heard.

"So Minato is in charge of the interrogation, then what does Hoshi do?" he asked

Rin glared at the smoke coming from his pipe, but said nothing. Obito cheerfully responded.

"Hoshi is like a living lie detector. You tell him something, and he knows if you are lying or not a good chunk of the time. He also is better at genjutsu than Sensei,"

Aragorn was just about to ask another question when his ears picked up a commotion in one of the side halls. Then two boys and a squawking crow spilled out into the hall. Both had the misfortune to barrel straight into Lady Eowyn, causing the three to fall to the ground. The enterance to the hall opened, letting Theoden King, Gandalf and two children in, while letting the crow out.

Kakashi and Hoshi (for it was indeed them.) picked themselves off the ground and each offered a hand to Lady Eowyn, who greatfully took each one.

"Now what was that all about? asked Gandalf, looking bewildered.

Kakashi inhaled deeply. "_Somebody_ didn't check to see if Grima had anything on him," he said glaring at Hoshi. "Turns out the filthy bastard had a messenger crow tucked into his shirt and he just sent it with a message out to Isengard," Kakashi finished with a hiss.

Hoshi gave the masked shinobi a venomous look. "Well excuse me for not jumping to the chance to strip search the greasy freak," he snarled.

"What's done is done," declared Theoden. Aragorn noticed that he was carrying a boy around the shinobis' age. Rin walked up to the King.

"Excuse me, Theoden King," she said. "But may I take a look at him?"

The man raised a blonde eyebrow. "Do you know the healing arts?" he asked.

Rin nodded. The King turned to Eowyn.

"Take this boy and Rin to a room," he commanded. She curtsied, and relieved her uncle of the child. Eowyn beckoned Rin to follow her down the side hall.

"Is my brother going to be okay?" The little girl asked Gandalf.

The Istari chuckled. "Your brother will be just fine. He is probably just tired,"

Minato entered the room, looking very irritated. He bowed to Theoden.

"I have a report on the interrogation," the yellow-haired shinobi said while pulling out a piece of paper, covered in a strange alphabet.

The King sat on his throne, looking drained. "Please read it,"

Minato sighed before starting. "We know from the testimony of Grima Wormtongue that Saruman the Many-Colored is building an army to destroy Rohan. It is comprised mainly of Uruk-hai, which happen to be a cross-breeding of Orcs and Humans," he shuddered in disgust. "He has allied himself with the...Dunlendings?" Minato squinted at what he wrote, then shrugged. "As you have probably seen, the worm has sent a crow out to Saruman. He told me under duress and quite truthfully that the content of the message was about Helm's Deep," The Shinobi paused, waiting for the news to sink in before continuing. "He wrote to Saruman about the journey there, how it would be the perfect opportunity for an ambush. He also informed his master about a hole in your defenses there," Minato raised a sun-colored eyebrow as he continued reading. "A drain about as tall as a mead keg and wide enough to fit five. Theoden King," he said looking up at the Horselord with disapproval. "Why does such a big gap exist in your fortress?"

Theoden was unable to come up with an answer, which caused Minato to shrug.

"Mistakes happen," he said, folding away the paper and putting it into his back pocket. He sniffed the air, frowning slightly.

"Is someone smoking in here?" he asked.

Aragorn sighed. He wondered what the shinobi had against pipes.

* * *

><p>The young boy who had arrived earlier had just woken up from a long nap, and had been brought into the hall for some food. Minato, Kakashi and Hoshi had also been offered food, and only the elf-like Hoshi accepted. Eowyn frowned at them.<p>

"Is there something wrong with our food?" she asked, rather offended. Both Minato and Kakashi pratically jumped up, protesting.

"Oh no, not at all!" cried Minato, a look of slight fear in his eyes.

"We just are used to eating food that has been treated with lots of medicine, that's all," Kakashi said hurriedly.

Eowyn was confused, but decided that the bunch had weak stomachs and left it at that.

She walked over to the two children who had arrived after the funeral. She asked them why they came to Edoras

Between bites of food, the young boy and his sister told Eowyn that they came from the Westfold because of the Wildmen. She was horrified to hear about the Dunlending's attacks.

Her uncle wished to know why they were here and Eowyn spoke for the shy siblings.

"They had no warning, They were unarmed," she spoke, referring to the people in the Westfold. "Now the Wildmen are moveing through the Westfold, burning as they go,"

Their guests seemed disturbed, and Theoden had his head in his hand.

"Where is Mama?" asked the little girl. Eowyn shushed her, while putting a blanket around the girl's shoulders.

Gandalf was sitting next to Theoden on a stool. Addressing the King, he said:

"This is but a taste of the terror Saruman has unleashed. All the more potent as he is driven mad by fear of Sauron," The Wizard's eyes became intense. "Ride out to meet him head on. Draw him away from your women and children. You must fight!"

Theoden looked unshure, as did the strangers.

"Head on?" whispered Rin.

Hoshi nodded. "As in approaching him instead of waiting for Saruman to come to us," he said quitely

Rin sighed. "No matter what, it sounds like the recipe for a massacre," she muttered.

Aragorn's voice tore her away from the odd children.

"You have a thousand good men riding north as we speak. Eomer is loyal to you. His men will return and fight for their king," he said.

Eowyn was glad to hear that her brother was alright. But the strangers tore her attention back to them.

"Pssst, Hoshi," the boy dressed in blue poked the dark-haired boy who was enjoying the food from the kitchens. "Who is Aimer?"

Hoshi's eye twiched and he swollowed his food. "**Eomer** is the Horselord who threatened to cut off Gimli's head. He is a good man,"

Rin snorted. "Lacks in manners, though,"

The Shieldmaiden was irked that they talked as if they were the only people in the room. She was pleased that Hoshi stood up for her brother, though.

Theoden King stood up from his throne, looking irritated.

"They will be 300 leagues from here by now," he paced around, anxious. "Eomer cannot help us,"

There was a loud bang and everybody jumped. The lanky boy's dark head had pitched forward on to the table. The short-haired girl had pulled the stew out of the way just in time, and was smiling apologeticly.

"Oh, it seems that Hoshi needs more sleep," the spiky-haired adult said pleasently, though his eyes told a different story. "Carry on, don't mind us,"

Slowly, the rest of the room returned to the topic at hand. Gandalf had stood up from his stool and steped forward, about to say something.

"I know what it is you want of me, but I will not bring further death to my people," Theoden said with conviction. "I will not risk open war,"

Aragorn did not look pleased by that statement, removing his pipe from his mouth.

"Open war is upon you, whether you risk it or not,"

Theoden turned to Aragorn, displeased.

"When last I looked," he said coolly. "Theoden, not Aragorn, was King of Rohan,"

"Burn," hissed Obito, who was promptly thumped on the back of his head by Kakashi.

Aragorn's eyes flicked toward the strangers, but he said nothing.

Gimli bealched, helping to difuse the situation. The White Wizard moved forward.

"What is the King's decision?" he asked.

Theoden turned towards Gandalf and said:

"We will go to Helms deep,"

At that, Hoshi shot straight up, eyes wide. He promptly grabbed Minato and said:

_*"I need to talk to you, now,"*_

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>**:**

**Although I made this story purely for personal entertainment, It worries me that the number of views on this story is significantly less than on the previous one. Is it because this is a sequel, or that no one is interested? I know that some readers probably have dropped me due to the potential OCs. Please let me know why you like/hate this overall plot and let me know if there is anything I can do for the awesome reviewers. (I Like the favoriters and the ones who put me on their story alert list, but anyone who gives me feedback earns a special place in my brain.)**

**Sorry about that, I just really wanted to get that off my chest. Thank you all.**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:**

**Words cannot discribe my thanks. But Thank you to Anonymous Reviewer, Purple Pallbearer, GlidingOne, DreamingIn2Eternity, WolfDemon1000, and atwistedconundrum for the *beautiful* reviews. And Thank you to atwistedconundrum and WolfDemon1000 for putting this on your story alerts list!**

**Sorry to disappoint you guys/gals, but this is not the Warg bashing chapter. It was going to be, but then I got sidetracked...**

**Thank You all for the reviews and comments! It boosts my morale and fosters inspriration!**

** Looking back on it, I really wasn't clear that I was going to seperate the overall story into bits. But since I did, well...ON TO THE STORY!**

* * *

><p>Minato was promptly dragged out of the room by Hoshi. He was worried when the boy had collapsed, for it showed all the signs of, what he dubbed, shadow clone shock. Hoshi's clones lasted for days and often refused to disipate, even when severely wounded. So when they did disipate, Hoshi was sturck with days worth or information coming at him, so he usually passed out. What baffled Minato was <em>when<em> his student had made this clone. The jonin remembered that the boy made one on the way to Amon Hen, but that was killed by an Uruk-hai.

Minato was then jolted out of his thoughts when his tall student pulled him into a small room.

"Please sit, sensei," he said, gesturing to a stool. Minato did sit, though he gave the odd boy a warning look. Hoshi usually had to be in charge or have a final word in any matter that he came across, which often got him it trouble. The yellow-haired teacher often had to remind him that he was not in charge.

Hoshi sat down too, rubbing his temples. "I made a clone to look for you in the Mines of Moria," he started. "But it got lost,"

Minato folded his hands, intrugued.

"Eventually, it found the way back to our tunnel," he continued "It put your kunai that you gave me in a niche in the tunnel, so you probably could go there right now,"

"Really?" murmured the jonin. _"This is a new development,"_ he thought.

Hoshi inhaled deeply. "My clone would have gone up the tunnel, if not for the arrival of another team,"

"So there is another team of shinobi out there," stated Minato. This was shaping up to be good news. "Was it a Konoha team?"

The pale genin nodded. "Aye. My clone led them out of Moria through a window that opened up to the mountian side. I believe that we ended up assisting the elves of Lothlorein in battle against the goblins of Moria. I also have vague memories of flooding some of the tunnels,"

The jonin raised his eyebrows. "Cleaning out the place?" he asked.

Hoshi nodded. "Something like that. We didn't enter the city, just staying at an outpost at the edge before traveling via river,"

"So the scrolls were a help?" asked Minato.

"Indeed they were," said Hoshi. "The team my clone was with was tracking us, so the scrolls told them that we had been there and that the elves were friends."

The Yellow Flash nodded, glad to have been of some help to their former hosts.

His student continued on with his tale. "They continued along on the path we had oringinally took, however..."

Hoshi had paused and buried his forehead into the palm of his hand. He looked up, and said:

"I directed them to Isengard," he winced.

"The home of Saruman?" Minato said with slight disbelief. "Did you do so in hopes of destroying it?" he asked.

Hoshi nodded. "But I didn't tell them that. They were under the impression that going Isengard will give them information on our whereabouts,"

Minato was not likeing how things were turning out. "What happened when you got there?" he asked quietly.

His student winced. "Saruman captured my clone and invited the team into his services..."

The jonin was on the edge of his seat. "And?" he prompted with a whisper.

Hoshi gulped. "And they accepted,"

Minato's eyes widened then narrowed. "Just who's team was it anyway," he asked, deathly calm.

"Team Orochimaru," he said with a shudder.

* * *

><p>As soon as the King declared his decision, Rin had hustled away her team to prepare for departure. Luckily, not much had been unpacked, packing was finished in a flash. Kakashi was sitting on the bed in their guest room, holding his backpack. Obito had removed the kettle, filled it with water and blasted it with a fire jutsu to purify it. Rin took the opportunity to clean her medical supplies.<p>

"What do you think Hoshi wanted to talk to sensei about?" asked Kakashi.

Obito shrugged. "Beats me. Probably had to do with a premontion or dream. He often has really bizarre dreams,"

Rin had observed Kakashi through out the 'mission' and had seen a few changes. He had opened up more, and was more likely to take a joke. He did not stick to the rules as much, and was a lot more content. She hummed a tune as she polished off her scapels. The instruments rusted to easily for her comfort, but they were an important and necessary part of her kit.

There was a knock on the door, so Rin turned and called:

"Come in!"

Lady Eowyn opened the door just as Obito spat out another blast of fire, causing the poor women to yelp. The Uchiha gave her a large smile.

"Thank you for the room! It has a good fireplace," he said, before taking one of their many waterbottles and filling it with the boiling water. Rin sighed.

"Be careful, Obito. I am not healing any burns you get due to carelessness,"

Kakashi snickered. Obito scowled and bandished a capped bottle at him.

"No water for you!" he declared.

Rin gave the shocked lady an apologetic smile. "They are like that all the time," she said.

Eowyn blinked and said:

"Is it normal for your people to breathe fire?"

Rin nodded. "Well, not everybody breathes fire back at home. But in Obito's family, in order to be considered an adult, you have to master The Giant Fireball Technique,"

The Lady nodded. "So this is not an inborn ablility?" she ask hesitantly.

"Nope, it is something you must learn," Rin answered while putting away her cleaned supplies.

They stood in silence for a while until there was a knock on the doorframe.

"Excuse me, Lady Eowyn. But we have to get in there," said a pleasent voice.

She jumped and turned pink. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, while getting out of the door frame.

Minato gave her a smile. "Its fine," he said while slinking into the room. Hoshi followed him in.

"I came here to let you know that we will be leaving shortly," she said, eyes on Minato. "Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked.

Minato shook his head. "I am all set," he turned to his students. "Are you all set?"

Kakashi nodded, as did Obito and Hoshi. Rin nodded as well.

"Thank you for the offer, my Lady," Minato said with a smile and a bow of his head.

Lady Eowyn crutsied and left.

Hoshi gave a heavy sigh as he packed his things. Obito gave him a look as he handed his foster brother five bottles of water, which Hoshi put in a storage scroll.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

Hoshi nodded. "There will be an ambush on the road to Helm's Deep. Be on your guard, for I am not sure when it will occur,"

The whole team nodded.

"Everyone ready?" asked Minato. "Then let's go,"

* * *

><p>Team 7 had decided to walk beside the three members of the broken Fellowship, but it was easier said than done. Theoden King had the wisdom to heed Minato's subtle warning of an ambush and had any fighters on high alert at all times. Obito drank in their surroundings as he walked beside Gimli's horse. Hoshi had been offered a horse, which he ended up accepting. As a result, the tall boy became the pack mule. At the present moment, both genin were listening to Gimli talk about dwarf women to Eowyn, who was leading his horse.<p>

"It is true you don't see many dwarf women," he said. "But infact, they are so alike in voice and appearence, they are often mistaken for dwarf men,"

Obito stifled his laughter, as Eowyn looked back towards Aragorn for affirmation.

"Its the beards," he said, gesturing. Obito gave a howl of laughter. Hoshi sighed and rolled his eyes.

"We have a clan back at home a lot like that," explained Obito when he calmed down. "The men look and dress exactly like the women. You have to look at their chest in order to tell the difference,"

Hoshi frowned. "Are you talking about the Hyuuga clan?" he asked.

Obito grinned, folding his arms behind his head. "Of course I am! Who else would be like that?"

"The Aburame clan," he said flatly. "They completely cover themselves with clothing, so one cannot tell who is who, let alone gender,"

Aragorn looked interested. "Why would they cover themselves up like that?" he asked.

Hoshi looked rather uncomfortable. "They are a clan of insect tamers, and have formed a relationship with a certian type of beetle. Members of the clan basically offer themselves as hives for the beetles, who follow their orders in return. That would be the most likely reason why they would cover up like that," he said with a shudder.

Eowyn looked faintly revolted at the information.

Aragorn merely said: "Ah,"

Gimli laughed. "Woe betide all who cross their path," he cackled, before returning to the previous topic. "The simliar appearence has given rise to the belief that there are no dwarf women, and that dwarfs spring out of holes in the ground!"

Gimli's genstures and tone of voice caused Eowyn, Obito and Hoshi to laugh.

"Which is, of course, rediculous," he added. Then for one reason or another, the horse the dwarf was riding on bolted. Eowyn attempted to hold on to the reins, but they slipped from her grasp.

Gimli fell off the horse, axe and all.

"Oh, dear," muttered Hoshi as he gave Obito the reins for his horse, then jumped off to get the runaway steed.

Gimli was on his back, waving his short limbs in the air. "I'm alright, no need to panic!" he cried as the smiling Eowyn ran over to the dwarf. "It was diliberate, It was diliberate," he insisted as the blonde lady helped him up. Obito shook his head. He listened as Theoden talked about his niece, Eowyn. The tale was familiar to him, but with a few details changed.

A young child whose parent is killed and the other succumbs to grief. Then the orphan is taken in by a relative who doesn't care for them as they should, left to fend for themselves as the world came crashing down upon them.

Hoshi returned with Gimli's horse, presenting it to Eowyn, who took the reins. The lanky boy strode over to his horse and swiftly mounted it.

_*"No sign of Isengard's wolves,"*_ he whispered into Obito's ear. The Uchiha nodded. He hated being on theather hooks, waiting for an attack to come.

Around midday, they stopped for lunch. Obito was delighted to quiet his growling stomach with a few riceballs. He and Hoshi sat beside Aragorn, who seemed to like the company. Or maybe it was because Hoshi offered him some chocolate. Obito really didn't care. Lady Eowyn approached them with a pot of stew.

"Oh dear," muttered Hoshi. Aragorn gave the boy a confused look.

"I made some stew," she said shyly. "It isn't much, but its hot,"

She filled the bowl and offered it to Aragorn, who politely took it. She turned to Hoshi.

"Would you like some?" she asked him. The dark-haired boy showed her a wooden bowl filled with berries and bits of fish.

"I am all set, but thank you for the offer,"

Eowyn gave Obito a nod, aknowledging his presense. Aragorn seemed to regret taking the bowl. She handed Aragorn a wooden spoon, who took it.

"Thank you," he said quietly. Hoshi had set down his meal to watch the ranger intently.

Obito nearly laughed at the way he reacted to eating the obviously horrible stew while Eowyn was watching. The man managed to swollow the 'food', eventually saying:

"It's good,"

There was a look of such joy on Eowyn's face when Aragorn said that. "Really?"

She then walked away, her back toward the group. When she was far enough away, Aragorn slowly began to pour out the stew, much to Obito's delight.

"My Uncle told me a strange thing," Eowyn turned around again to face the ranger, who ended up spilling the stew all over his hands in an attempt to hold on to the bowl. Obito stuffed an riceball in his mouth to stifle his laughter, but only succeeded in choaking on the rice. Hoshi sighed and thumped his foster brother on the back, dislodging the rice.

"He said you rode to war with Thengal, my grandfather," continued Eowyn. "But he must be mistaken,"

Aragorn was silent for a moment before speaking. "King Theoden must have a good memory. I was long gone when he was born,"

Eowyn knelt down to their height. "You must be at least sixty,"

He shook his head. Obito was fascinated.

"Seventy?" she tried. When he didn't affirm the response, she said in disbelief:

"You cannot be eighty,"

The ranger was silent for a minute before mumbling. "Eighty Seven,"

Obito's jaw dropped. A look of realization crossed Eowyn's face.

"You are one of the Dunedain, a descendent of Numenor, blessed with long life," she said in awe. "I thought your race had passed into legend,"

Obito was flabbergasted. "Hold it right there!" he cried. "How in the name of blessed Sage are you eighty seven, but you look like you are thirty. And you don't even know genjutsu!"

Hoshi put a calming hand on his foster brother's shoulder. "I will explain it to you at a later date," he said soothingly.

Obito sighed, before perking up again. "Passed into legend? Why would you think that?" he asked Eowyn.

It was Aragorn who answered his question. "What is left of my people dwell in the North. Our Kingdom was destroyed a long time ago," he answered softly.

"Oh," Obito looked saddened. "Sorry 'bout that,"

Aragorn gave the boy a small smile. "It is not something for you to be sorry about,"

Obito smiled. Hoshi had turned back to his meal, which was nearly gone. Eowyn was looking intently at the fine-boned boy. She then turned to Aragorn.

"Are you related?" she asked. Hoshi's pointed ear twitched, but he did not look up.

Aragorn was confused. "To whom?" he asked.

Eowyn gestured to Hoshi. "To him,"

The boy had been hunched over the bowl in a protective manner, but he straightened up cautiously.

Aragorn was giving Hoshi a hawkeyed look, which caused the shinobi to fidgit slightly.

"There is a possiblety," he said after a long pause.

Eowyn turned to Hoshi, but the boy suddenly stood up and yelled:

"We'll be right there, Minato-sensei," he grabbed Obito's upper arm and began dragging him away. "Sorry, but duty calls," he chuckled awkwardly.

"At least let me get up on me feet first!" the goggle-wearing cried as Hoshi dragged him away from the confused pair.

Eldarion finally breathed a sigh a relief when everybody had been walking along for three minutes. Now all three shinobi were in the front of the coloum, scouting. Obito was complaining to Kakashi about his quick escape.

"Smooth, Hoshi," Kakashi said to him sarcasticly.

"It was the only thing I could think of!" Eldarion snapped, the tips of his ears burning. "How would you act if you were in my place?"

Kakashi went silent. Legolas' blue eyes flicked toward them, then returned to peering out at the horizon, searching for enemies.

Two of the Rohirric scouts were riding below them, and one of their horses was uneasy. Eldarion's horse was acting up also, tossing it's head and refusing to move forward. Minato-sensei's eyes widened.

"DUCK!" he screamed. The entire team hit the ground as a large, dark shape flew over their heads. Except for Eldarion, who by virtue of being on a horse, was unable to dodge the flying mass.

The thing knocked the air out of him as he was pushed off the horse, which by some miracle was unscathed. Hitting the ground with a jolt that definatly broke a few bones, Eldarion prepared to be eaten by what he decided was a warg. Instead, he was licked in the face and drooled on.

"Where the HELL have you guys BEEN?"


	8. Chapter 8

**AN:**

**Thank you GlidingOne, FireheartedNinja, Deadzepplin, and WolfDemon1000 for reviewing!**

**Glad that most people seemed to enjoy the previous chapter! **

**Just a casual thought: I do not believe that Kakashi has trained any of his dog yet in this timeline (he is 10).**

**Also, while Sage mode is awesome, I felt very awkward writing this fight, considering the shinobi are on a whole different level than the Middle-Earthlings. Technically, they are Gandalf's level, but they can do more than the wizard could. The reason the ninjas haven't been very kickass is that they are basically showing up the heros of LotRs, and I am not very comfortable with that.**

**I hope this chapter is satisfactory, and let me know if it is good/bad/ugly.**

**Thank you!**

* * *

><p>Eldarion slowly opened his eyes and looked up. First he saw a warg with a black face and a light brown body, which seemed to be smiling at him. Being unable to see anything else, he pulled himself to be sitting up. Then he saw the rider.<p>

_"Violet hair, brown eyes, necklace, chainmail, yep its-"_

"ANKO!" Eldarion jumped as his internal tally was snapped by the entire team yelling at the young kunoichi. The tall boy took the opportunity to stand up, wincing as some of his muscles protested. Aragorn had joined them, looking very apprehensive.

"What are you doing here?" Eldarion asked after dusting himself off.

"Running from thirty or so Warg Riders, that's what!" she screamed.

Aragorn and the others seemed to process the information faster than the shinobi did. The ranger's eyes widened and he promptly ran back to inform Theoden. Out of the corner of his eye, Eldarion saw Legolas take his postion and begin to shoot some of the approaching enemies.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You led them right to us," he hissed.

Minato put a hand on the Hatake's shoulder. "Now is not the time to point fingers," he said in a commanding tone. He turned toward Eldarion. "Nor is it the time to hold back,"

Eldarion knew what that ment. Up until this point, he and the other members of Team 7 had refrained in displaying any of their jutsu. But going all out had the potential to save lives. If he remembered correctly, this 'ambush' had crippled the Rohirrim a bit.

The was the sound of a horse behind him and everyone turned to see Aragorn.

"I informed Theoden King of your powers, and it was suggested that you go in ahead of us and we will mop up the survivers.

Minato nodded grimly. "Thank you. That should work perfectly."

He turned to his team and Anko. _*"Let's go,"*_

* * *

><p>Legolas was perched on the crest of a hill, shooting as many of the filth as he could. The elf was waiting for the Rohirrim and his companions to arrive to assist him. He was so focused on shooting the beasts and their riders that he jumped when a hand was put on his shoulder.<p>

"You may stand down Legolas," he turned to see Minato standing beside him. "You have done well but we will take over from here,"

The elf looked at Hoshi, who gesutured with his _Guan Dao_ toward the base of the hill.

"The backup is down there," he said quietly. "I suggest you join them,"

Legolas frowned. "I will stay right here,"

The shinobi sighed. "Suit yourself," The boy pulled out his headband and tied it around his forehead. Everyone tensed. Minato pulled out his strange knives, and after what seemed to be a moment, he threw them.

All hell cut loose in front of the elf's astonished and horrified eyes.

* * *

><p>As soon as Minato-sensei threw his kunai, Obito shot down the side of the hill. He made eye contact with Hoshi as ran downhill.<p>

_"Horse, Tiger, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger," _The two Uchihas mirror each other, inhaling deeply. _"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"_

Both orcs and wargs panicked as the two fireballs came flying toward them on their left flank and right flank. They attempted to escape it by moving in towards the center, causing some of the wargs to trip over others. While several riders got burned, most somehow were left unscathed. Kakashi seemed to be preparing a jutsu of his own.

Lightning sparked in his hand, then extended to a long bolt that took the shape of a dog. He jumped forward and lashed the bolt out like a whip. Obito yanked down his goggles, knowing what was coming next.

With a scream the _onis_ exploded, splattering the hissing blood and guts all over their wargs and their companions. The Uchiha was impressed. Lightning techniques were not easy to control and often exausted their users. Rin stayed on the fringe of their formation, ready to provide any assistance. Hoshi had recently jumped into the midst of the wolves and _onis_, becoming a whirlwind of death. Minato-sensei was once again testing a jutsu he dubbed...

"_Rasengan!"_

Obito yelped as his teacher mowed down a riderless warg right next to him.

"Be on your guard Obito!" he cried, while teleporting to another one of his kunai.

The Uchiha didn't have time to say anything else as he quickly became surrounded by orcs.

* * *

><p>Curiousity had gotten the best of Aragorn halfway through the battle. Although most tried not to show it, the Rohirrim were glad that they only needed to attack when necessary. But the ranger did not like to completely miss a good fight, so he climbed to the top of the hill where Legolas was sitting. The elf appeared to be in a state of shock. His blue eyes were wide with horror and his mouth was slightly open. Instead if asking the Legolas any questions, he followed the elf's gaze.<p>

Aragorn's own eyes widened at the scene of ongoing carnage below them. The shinobi were fearlessly cutting and hacking through the wargs and their riders like it was nothing. He looked at the shinobi. Obito was burning the wargs around him with bursts of fire, and killing their riders through his throwing weapons. Kakashi had taken a warg for a mount and was charging at them, somehow causing the orcs to explode through his mere touch. Minato was a yellow blur, jumping from one place to another.

"These things can explode?"

Both ranger and elf jumped. He turned to see the short girl from before, petting the snoozing warg. Rin was sitting next to her, and both were looking at the fight.

"If you run a chakra current through them," answered Rin.

They were silent for a minute before the new stranger suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs.

"C'mon Hoshi! Move faster you slow poke!"

Legolas suddenly grabbed Aragorn's arm and pulled himself up. The Dunedain could see why. Every unoccupied orc and warg had begun to charge towards them. He grit his teeth in surpressed anger and he headed back down the hill. Theoden seemed to understand why he ran back down, because he promptly urged his horse up the hill. The rest of the Rohirrim soon followed.

* * *

><p>Rin smacked Anko on the back of her head.<p>

"You idiot!" she cried. Instead of responding in anger, the fellow kunoichi yanked her up on top her warg's back. The pug colored warg stood up, snarling. Anko quickly mounted the animal's back.

"Their target is me, and we have a bunch of people who are going to charge at them," she said with a feral grin. "So let's sidetrack them,"

Anko promptly yelled at the orcs. "Come and get me you gutless maggots!" then urged the warg off to their right.

"Hi-ya!" she cried, tugging on what appeared to be a pink leash.

Rin nearly fell off as the warg moved forward. But thanks to certian chakra holds, she managed to stay on.

The _oni_ urged their wargs after them, so they were running parallel to the top of the hill. That was when the Rohirrim attacked.

* * *

><p>Eldarion was not pleased to see that Anko and her large mouth had prevented Minato-sensei from slaughtering the remaining wargs and their riders. He sat atop a roan colored warg who seemed friendlier then the rest. Just before the Rohirrim and their allies charged over the hill, he heard something in the distance. More barking and snarls sounded from over another hill. His teammates noticed, too.<p>

"Hoshi," asked Minato as they moved to intercept the backup. "Do you think you can do _Suiton: Suishōha_?"

Eldarion was shocked. "I-There is no water around here. Sensei, I don't have the chakra for this," he stammered. He looked at the approaching calvery and gulped. Minato pressed a pill into his hand.

"This will boost your chakra," he said, as the crossed the crest of the hill, out of sight of the others. Eldarion swallowed the pill and his fear. Moulding the extra chakra, he began to concentrate.

* * *

><p>The Rohirrim had finished off most of the wargs and their foul riders. Luckily, their side had only one casulaty, a young Rider who had his hand cut off. Aragorn was looking around for the other shinobi, for he only saw Rin (who was treating the Rider's wound), the new foreigner, and the only friendly warg in existance. The girl, whose name was Anko was standing on the crest of another hill, looking over it.<p>

"Aw HELL no!" she yelled, then turned around to Rin. "Rin, Hoshi just took a food pill!"

The girl shot up. "What!" she shrieked.

"And," added Anko. "The Wargs have reinforcements"

Aragorn knew it would be a good idea to stay where he was. Considering that four shinobi had completely destroyed a large percentage of the attack force, the ranger figured that they would be fine.

But the sudden roar of water surprised him and several others.

"I do not recall the river being up here," muttered an older Rider. Aragorn could hear the yelps and shrieks of the wargs and the orcs, and the water slowly quiet down.

Then there was a yell from Obito.

"Um, guys? A little help here!"

And so they charged.

* * *

><p>When Minato saw Hoshi slump forward, breathing heavily, he knew it was a mistake to give the boy the pill. He was showing signs of chakra exaustion, as were Kakashi and Obito. Neither had a large amount of chakra, and neither were the best at chakra control, dispite Kakashi's chunin status. The gamble had worked and a good portion of the warg riders had been pushed off the cliff. But a lot were still alive, and all of them were pissed. In fact, one was headed toward Hoshi.<p>

"Hoshi!" he cried, ready to teleport over to his student. Much to his surprise, the boy lashed out with his _Guan Dao_, slashing the orc open. The wound ignited into purple flames. He then spurred his warg forward it to what had just became a free for all melee. Minato sighed, and rejoined the battle. The Rohirrim were surprisingly good fighters, who knew when to attack and when to concede an orc or warg to him. Aragorn was doing incredibly well, beheading orcs and stabbing any warg that got too close to him. Obito and Kakashi had teamed up. Each one was atop a charging warg, holding several lines of wire. The Rohirrim wisely stood clear of them as they bisected anyone who was foolish enough to move between them. A couple of times, Kakashi ran lightning along it, but it was not often.

Minato sighed. Fighting _oni_ was rather dull, as they couldn't block the attacks or even do much to retaliate. He had nearly attacked Rin and Anko because he mistakened them of an enemy. Neither girl was very pleased. Minato looked at his hands. _Rasengan_ was not a very clean jutsu, so his hands were slippery with black blood. Oddly enough, the blood was eating away at his gloves.

A gruff voice broke him out of his reverie.

"You wouldn't mind helpin' a friend, would ya?"

He looked at a pile of carcesses, seeing that Gimli was underneth two wargs and an orc. Smiling, Minato lifted the carcesses off the dwarf.

"I will not ask how that happened," he said to the thankful Gimli.

"Good, it is rather boring," grumbled the dwarf as he ran off to attack some other warg. Exhaling, the jonin's blue eyes combed the battlefield, looking for Hoshi. He halted his search when he saw Aragorn get knocked off his horse by a riderless warg. The man was unhurt, so an entertained Minato continued to watch him. As an _oni_ and his steed charged by the ranger, Aragorn jumped onto the creature's back

_"Impressive,"_ thought Minato as he lazily threw a kunai into the mouth of a riderless beast.

However, the orc was a good fighter, as he somehow pinned Aragorn's wrist to the warg and shoved him off the animal's back. While his conscience screamed for him to go help the ranger, Minato felt content to just watch the scene unfold. He admired the man's fighting skills. After all, not everybody could stab an orc in the throat while being pulled along backwards by a running beast.

But when the _oni _reached out and grabbed something around Aragorn's neck, Minato got worried. But then he threw the orc off, which made him stop worrying. Suddenly, he heard his name called.

"Minato-sensei!"

It was Anko, who was currently engaged in battle with a warg. He was about to assist them when Rin tacked something else onto the call.

"Help Hoshi!" she cried, while hitting an orc on the head with a broken spear.

His eyes widened in horror when he noticed Hoshi grappling with a warg, _and_ it's rider. Along the edge of the cliff.

_"Flying frogs,"_ he cursed mentally. He activated _Hiraishin_ and teleported to Hoshi.

Only to land several feet away. Minato was confused, but threw a kunai instead. Every second counted. Unfortuantly, his confusion cost him that second. Hoshi lost his balance, and fell over the edge of the cliff.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN:**

**Thank you to DreamingIn2Eternity, Deadzepplin, Anonymous Reviewer, and FireheartedNinja for the reviews and support! **

**I might not be able to update friday, just to let you all know. **

**Nothing more to say, now onto the story!**

* * *

><p>Kakashi dismounted off his warg and collapsed onto a rock. He hated being exhausted of all his chakra, but there was little that he could do about that. Obito was breathing heavily, but otherwise showed no signs of exhaustion. The chunin scanned the battlefield. They were fortunate that their casualties were light. The ground had become swampy, which did not favor the horses. But they managed to obtain victory with minimal losses.<p>

Kakashi turned to look at Obito, who was still astride his warg.

"How is our team?" he asked. "Is everyone alive and unhurt?"

The Uchiha's eyes scanned the crowd, looking for their teammates.

"I don't see Hoshi," he said, baffled.

"That's because he fell off the cliff,"

Both shinobi jumped and turned to see Minato-sensei pick up a few of his _Hiraishin_ Kunai. Their teacher was splattered with blood, and his eyes were sorrowful. Obito seemed to recognise the look the jonin was giving them.

"Oh no," he said, horrified. "We are NOT leaving this place without looking for Hoshi,"

Minato-sensei was silent as Anko and Rin approached him. Rin looked furious.

"How could you, Sensei?" she hissed. "You know that giving Hoshi food pills shortens his life span!"

The yellow-haired man gave her a look. "By six months. Considering his potential life span, that is the blink of an eye,"

"Minato,"

Team Minato plus Anko turned to see a worried Legolas.

"Have you seen Aragorn?" he asked. Minato looked rather worried.

"The last I have seen him was over there by the edge of the cliff,"

The elf seem to catch his meaning, but still walked over to the place Minato had pointed out. Obito made eye contact with Kakashi. With a nod, the Hatake once again mounted his warg to follow the elf. Gimli was with Legolas also. Both seemed to be interrogating a dying _oni_, who only confirmed what Minato-sensei insinuated. Neither wanted to believe that Aragorn might possibly be dead.

"Hey, Hoshi has that same necklace!" cried Obito, pointing to the silvery bunch in the orc's hand. Legolas took the jewelry from the now dead _oni_. He gave Obito an incredulous look.

"That is impossible," he said shortly.

"Not necessarily," pointed out Kakashi. "Hoshi is from a different timeline than Aragorn. It is quite possible for Hoshi to own a similar looking necklace. I am positive that he doesn't have the same exact one,"

Obito frowned at Kakashi but said nothing. The elf gave Kakashi a wary look and walked over to the edge of the cliff. Theoden was looking over the edge also. Just as both shinobi were about to return to Minato, they heard the King's command.

"Get the wounded on horses, and leave the dead,"

Anko approached the two boys on her overly friendly warg, with Rin perched behind her.

"You do know that that command means 'don't go looking for Hoshi', right?"

Obito grit his teeth in anger. Kakashi looked over at his goggles-wearing teammate.

"Are you crying?" he asked.

"No!" sniffed Obito. "I just have something in my eye,"

Kakashi raised a silver eyebrow. "You are wearing you goggles,"

"Shut up!" he growled.

A weary Minato walked over to his students. "Let's go," he said in monotone.

Kakashi sighed. Hoshi was not dead. Somehow the oddball will get himself out of the mess he put himself in (again). He just knew it.

* * *

><p>Aragorn woke up to a horse nuzzling his face and whispering voices. Well, the voices were actually rather loud, and accented in a familiar pattern.<p>

"I think he's waking up," whispered one voice,

"You would if a large horse kept nuzzling your face," snapped another.

Both belonged to boys who had yet to encounter adolescence. The first voice took on a positive tone, and had a refined sound to it. The second was rather whispery, yet gruff for a child. Aragorn breathed deeply through his nose. He could smell fish and the smoke from a fire, and oddly enough, alchohol. Aragorn opened his eyes.

He nearly yelped when they met a pair of jet-colored, slanted orbs just inches away from his face.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, my friend!" said the owner of the eyes, who was pulled back away from his face. The speaker had spiky dark hair that was held back by a headband.

_"Konoha's headband,"_ Aragorn thought.

The boy had gathered the longer locks of his hair and gathered it at the base of his head. Like his fellow shinobi, the stranger wore odd clothing, but something about surcoat he was wearing looked familiar.

"I apologize for my friend's manners," said the whispery voice. The ranger turned to face the other boy. This child had rather dark skin, but not as dark as some of the Haradim he had encountered in the past. His hair black was wiry and cut in a jagged manner. The boy's clothes seemed to echo Kakashi's, except for the fact his hands and fore-arms were completely covered in bandages and he was wearing a sort of steel blue robe.

"My name is Susano'o," continued the bandaged boy. "And this is Kuro,"

The personal space-invading boy waved cheerfully at him. Aragorn pulled himself upright, rubbing his head. Much to his surprise, he was wearing what appeared to be Minato's clothing. His cloths were drying near a fire that was cooking fish.

"We hope you don't mind us taking the liberty of giving you a pair of dry clothes," Kuro said while flashing a grin. Aragorn shook his head numbly. The clothes were comfortable, and they didn't touch his smallcloths, which was a relief.

Kuro turned his back to him, displaying an oddly familiar symbol.

"Do you happen to know Uchiha Obito by any chance?" he said while the horse nuzzled his head again.

Both boys looked at him, surprised. Then Kuro gave Susano'o a smirk.

"Told you this horse was good luck," he said.

The bandaged boy shrugged, then drank from what appeared to be a hollowed out gourd.

"What should we call you?" Susano'o asked, whiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Strider," Aragorn automatically answered. The boy nodded.

"Do you know where our comrades are?" he asked.

The ranger was sure that these two didn't mean the other shinobi harm, but he had to be careful.

"They were with my comrades and myself before I went off a cliff in a skirmish," Aragorn said carefully. " So yes, I know where they are,"

Kuro looked relieved. "Excellent. Will you lead the way there after we report back to our sensei?" he asked.

Aragorn nodded. Susano'o gave him back his clothes.

"You might want to change back into your own clothes, though,"

Aragorn nearly laughed, noticing the clothes were a bit too small. But when he looked through his belongings, he noticed something was missing, for he no longer felt it around his neck.

"Have you seen a silver necklace somewhere with my possesions?" he asked.

Susano'o gave him a confused look and turned to Kuro, who shook his head. "No. Why, is it important?" he asked.

_"They clearly haven't seen it,"_ Aragorn thought. The loss of the precious gift hurt Aragorn, but the shinobi didn't need to go out of their way to look of the Evenstar.

"Not to the overall wellfare of many," he said quitely. Susano'o gave him a sympathetic smile.

"We will keep our eyes peeled for it,"' he said kindly. Aragorn nodded his head in thanks, greatful for their offer of help.

"Once you are done, we will go," said Kuro as he put out the fire with a hiss.

* * *

><p>When Eldarion came to he wished he had passed out again. His lungs still burned from the water he had swollowed and his head throbbed as if Gimli was hitting him on the head with his axe. He tried to open his eyes, but he didn't have the strenght. The tall boy tried to move, but he was tied to what felt like a tree.<p>

"So the little price is awake,"

Eldarion froze in shock. _Nobody_ in Konoha knew of his status back at home, simply because it didn't matter. But _he_ found out...

"And he has a lot of explaining to do,"

That hissing voice made him shudder in a mixture of fear and disgust. Eldarion forced his eyes to open.

He had always considered Orochimaru to be Saruman incarnate. Both were very powerful and highly respected. Both were also had a lust for power and had a few loose screws in their heads. But Orochimaru was a lot more dangerous, mostly because his only fears were age and a couple other humans that Eldarion had no knowledge of.

"How did you find that tunnel?"

The genin flinched as the Sannin's golden eyes bore into him. He hated making eye contact, mostly because it revealed all sorts of secrets he didn't want to know or that he didn't want others to find out.

"We were on a mission to a letter from an advisor to the damiyo to his mistress who lives in the border mountians of the Land of Earth. We succeeded in delivering the letter, but it turns out that she has a husband. Her husband had hired shinobi from Iwa to attack his wife's lover or his unsuspecting messengers," started Eldarion. "Apparently he was an advisor to the Land of Earth's damiyo, so he got a discount on mission prices. So he hired a team of jonin. We ended up trying to hide in a cave, but they kept following us, so we went in deeper, and deeper and deeper to try and get away from them and avoid any bloodshed,"

Orochimaru had a mixture of surprise and relief on his face.

"It was a good thing that you did not engage with them," the Sannin said in an almost growl. "Diplomatic relations between the two of us are strained as it is,"

Eldarion became hopeful, seeing that the White Snake was in a good mood.

The Serpent's face then became stony again, with malice in his eyes.

"Why did you not return back home then?" he hissed. "You do know that accepting a mission without the Hokage's permission is against the law?"

_"This is NOT good!"_

Killer intent did not have an affect on the gondorian boy, but Orochimaru always succeeded in unnerving him.

"Do you have any idea on how idiotic it was to lead us to that elderly meglomaniac?" he snarled. "Never in all my life have I met someone as insufferable as him!"

Eldarion tried not to laugh as the Sannin began to pace around as he ranted.

"He is so proud in building a mindless fighting force in record time that he forgets to add intelligence to the stupid beasts! There is more potential in the wild hill people who serve him than the useless ogres! Then he has the nerve to ask me to serve him after throwing our comrade into his dungons! The only thing that kept me from cutting him open was his vast library and his lack suitablity as a guinea pig,"

The Sannin slowly turned to face Eldarion again, who was trying to ignore his fatgiue and his horrific headache.

"Once we find your other teammates we are going to return back home," he said evenly.

Eldarion's grey eyes widened.

"What, No!"

A kunai just missed his head, cutting his cheek. Orochimaru was giving him a glare of pure malice.

"The longer we stay in this backwater world, the longer it takes for us to get home," he snarled.

Eldarion felt fear grip him as he bristled at the insult. But he tried to explain.

"How will we be able to get backwithout being attacked by goblins?" the genin said almost desperately. The Sannin laughed. He seemed to find the idea very amusing.

"Have you any idea how easy it is to kill the rats?" he said, whiping away tears of laugher. "Do you have any idea how wonderful it would to get rid of you just now?"

Orochimaru's voice lowered to a whisper as he approached the tied up genin. "Tell me why we should help these people,"

"Maybe if you let Hoshi go, I might help you figure that out,"

Eldarion's grey eyes widen when he saw a curved hunting knife pressed against the Sannin's white throat.

"Ad-Aragorn!" he managed to sputter out. He looked past the two men to see other familiar faces.

"Kuro!" he cried, glad to see his 'cousin'. The Uchiha shook his head amusedly.

"Tied up again, I see," Eldarion's eyes narrowed to glare at a bandaged shinobi.

"You're permenantly tied up," he muttered.

Orochimaru allowed a faint smile to grace his pale lips. "I suppose I will hear you out just for being able to catch me off guard like that, Aragorn,"

The ranger's solemn expression didn't change. "Untie Hoshi and then we'll talk,"

Orochimaru chucked. "I have a feeling that I might just respect you," he said as he snapped his fingers. Eldarion gasped as the pressure of the encircling...snakes was released. His legs shook slightly as he slowly lowered himself on to the ground. Kuro walked over and sat next to Eldarion, and Susano'o reluctantly followed. Aragorn still had his hunting knife against Orochimaru's throat. The Sannin chuckled again.

"Relax, you interest me. I will not go back on my word,"

Cautiously, Aragorn removed the knife from the jonin's throat. With a small smirk, the Sannin sat cross-legged on the ground. The ranger did so as well, both eyes fixed on Orochimaru.

"Now," Orochimaru said while folding his hands. "Tell my why I should help the heir of Isildur reclaim his throne?"


	10. Chapter 10

**AN:**

**Thank you DreamingIn2Eternity, FireheartNinja, Metoochocolate for reviewing! Also thank you kupochan14 and PhantomWorlock for favoriting! And another Thank you to Metoochocolate for the Author Alert!**

**I am glad that Kuro and Susano'o aren't grating on anyone's nerves. Orochimaru is actually my favorite character, which is why I slipped him in. **

**This is a day late, so I apologize. Updating is going to be rare this week, due to real life obligations slapping me across the face.**

**Thanks for the support and please tell me what you think!**

_*Japanese*_**  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Kakashi pulled at the green cloth around his neck. He had taken a liking to Rohan's standard, and also had neglected to return the banner. Minato was going through the scroll compartments on his flak jacket as he ran alongside Kakashi's warg.<p>

"What are you looking for?" asked Anko, riding up to them. Rin sighed, looking very annoyed.

"I gave Aragorn a tracking scroll, and he forgot to return it," Minato said while pulling a scroll and unraveling it. "Fortunately, we have about 20 hours left on the scrolls,"

The jōnin took a quick glance at the map on the scroll and gave it to Kakashi.

"Anko, can you go with Kakashi?" he commanded more than asked.

The hyperactive kunoichi sighed and turned to her passenger. "Oi, Rin. Do you want to come or not?" she asked.

Rin shook her head then jumped off the galloping warg onto the back of Obito's warg.

Anko rolled her eyes. "C'mon Scarecrow, lets go find this guy's corpse,"

Kakashi gave her a glare as both shinobi redirected their wargs to the direction the tracking scroll was pointing them to.

"I don't think he is dead," he commented, eyes glued to the map.

Anko looked at his as if he removed his mask. "He fell off a cliff, as did Hoshi,"

The chūnin shook his head. "How odd would it be for the corpses of the afformented people to be together in the same place as the rest of your team?"

Anko's pupilless eyes widened. "Not as odd as you think," she said as the wargs and their shinobi galloped off toward the unsuspecting group.

* * *

><p>Aragorn grit his teeth. Out of all the shinobi he had ever met (which wasn't many), he hated Orochimaru the most. The serpentine man had asked a fair question, though. Why should they help the Rohirrim or the Gondorians? But the shinobi asked he why he should help <em>him regain his throne<em>, which was suspiciously specific.

"What would you gain by allying yourself with Sauron?" Aragorn returned. _"Although the scum would definately fit in with the orcs," _ he thought darkly.

Orochimaru blinked, closing his amber eyes for a moment. "Nothing. What I am asking you to do is convince me that we should stay and help you out with your cause. I came here to find Team 7 and take them back to Konaha. We all go or we all stay. Tell me why should I allow nine shinobi to run around Arda,"

Hoshi leaned forward, deciding to add his two cents.

"Once we get rid of Saruman and Sauron, the library at Orthanc will be yours,"

Aragorn was stunned by the offer. It was by no means a wise decision, seeing how the man's serpentine eyes lit up with a malignant greed.

Susano'o gave a soft snort. "And how could we hold you to your promise? You have promised many things, only to fall short in the end,"

The ranger's grey eyes narrowed as Hoshi clenched his fists.

"If you have something you want to say to me, then say it to my face, you coward!"

The boy's steely eyes turned to slits as he looked at Hoshi.

"Says the boy who couldn't protect his so-called friends from being killed,"

Aragorn had to admire the grey-eyed boy's composure as he displayed no emotion on his face. Orochimaru turned his amber gaze towards Susano'o. The bandaged boy immediately stiffened, and turned a pair of terrified eyes towards Hoshi.

"I am terribly sorry for having offended you, Hoshi-san," he said rapidly.

The shinobi turned back to Aragorn. "Why do you think we should help your allies?"

Aragorn leveled a stony gaze at Orochimaru. "This war decides whether Arda shall stay in the light or be consumed by the shadows. While I believe that we shall prevail, such an alliance will give the people a boost in morale and lower our casualties considerably,"

The shinobi looked rather disappointed. "You are asking us to do something that you are very capable of doing yourself. From what I have read, you are a very capable commander and the Rohirrim look up to you,"

Aragorn sighed through his nose. While he did have confidence in his abilities, the shinobi had the uncanny ability of making him feel very incompetent. He appriciated Orochimaru's backhand compliment, but that didn't make the ranger like him any more.

"Can I annihilate armies with the wave of a hand? No, I cannot," Aragorn said testily. "If you are valiant enough to face the unknown and aid us, I will personally give you the keys to the Orthanc,"

The man closed his eyes, folding his white hands under his nose. Hoshi and the two other shinobi waited with bated breath for Orochimaru's answer.

The shinobi's eyes flashed open and a twisted smirk crossed his face behind his hands.

"You have flattered me, questioned the abilities of my team, and have succeeded in winning yourself an ally. Aragorn, it would be an honor to work alongside you,"

The three boys exhaled, a look of relief on Hoshi's face. But then his left ear twitched and he made a face.

"So now what?" he asked.

* * *

><p>Kakashi felt his eyes droop as he and Anko sat down by a small pond. Anko was glaring at the tracking scroll like it had stolen her Dango. The thing kept making mistakes, such as sending them in the completely wrong direction for several miles. They had stopped to feed and water their wargs, who had faithfully carried them for miles. Kakashi had some extra dog chow left in a scroll from when he purchased his pug, Pakkun. The dog promised to be an extordinary ninken, as he had just learned to say his master's name.<p>

"Oi, Kakashi," Anko called to him. "Can you give Pakkun some chow?"

Kakashi's eye twitched. "Can't you call it something else?" he asked while dumping half of the large bag in front of his warg. After a couple sniffs, it dug in with entusiasim.

"Fine," Anko said with a huff, snatching the bag from the chūnin. "Cookie! Come here, girl!"

The pug colored warg trotted over to Anko, wagging it's tail. The kunoichi cheerfully dumped the rest of the chow at Cookie's dark paws. Kakashi watched with mild revulsion as the slobbering animal finished the pile in four large bites. He turned to his warg, who was taking a brief nap.

"I don't think that the scroll is in the tall guy's possession, Scarecrow," said Anko as she handed the malfunctioning object back to Kakashi. The Hatake's eyes narrowed.

"Why do you think that?" he asked, taking the scroll from her.

The kunoichi when through her food scrolls and removed an _Origiri. _"He isn't on the map anymore," she said taking a bite out of the riceball.

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated. "Then who has it?"

* * *

><p>Eldarion stared at the damp tracking scroll with a bit of confusion. Aragorn had left several minutes ago to Helms Deep with the horse that had found him. Eldarion wanted to follow him, but Orochimaru held him back.<p>

"Can you explain why Strider has a tracking scroll on him?" asked Kuro with a raised eyebrow.

The tall boy sighed. "We split up when we encountered Fangorn forest. It was not wise for us to venture into the place so we gave A-Aragorn the other half of a tracking scroll so we could find them again without much work. It was a four-day scroll, so it's time is nearly up,"

His 'cousin' looked satisfied by his explanation. Susano'o had lifted his head from his _sake_ flask mournfully, turning a pair of glassy eyes towards the two Uchiha.

"Do you think anyone is looking for him?" he asked as he took another swig of the alcohol. Orochimaru promptly snatched the gourd flask from the severely underage shinobi.

"Definately," Eldarion said as he reclaimed his miraculously dry backpack. "Minato-sensei probably sent out Kakashi and Anko,"

The entire team's eyes turned toward him, displaying various degrees of surprise.

"She left Isengard?" Orochimaru stated more than questioned. The lanky shinobi nodded.

"She took a warg and ended up leading a whole cahort to us. That is how we ended up here,"

Kuro laughed, turning to Susano'o and poking the copper-skinned boy in the arm.

"I told out that she'd break out of that place!" he said quite smugly. His bandged teammate sighed.

"We should get moving. According to Strider, Helms Deep is quite far from here," he suggested, while eyeing the gourd in his teacher's hand.

Orochimaru nodded, then took the scroll from Kuro. The Sannin then bit his finger and unfurled the scroll. He began to write on the scroll using his blood. When he finished, the scroll was rolled up then he activated the seal with a hand sign.

Eldarion was amazed. "Is our scroll tracking their scroll now?" he asked.

Orochimaru smirked at him. "We will meet up with them before deciding our next move,"

The White Snake turned to his team. _*__"Lets go,"*_

* * *

><p>Kakashi officially hated the tracking scroll. It was decided that they should least meet up with Orochimaru, mostly because Hoshi was with them. But the kami-be-damned scroll lead them right in the path of the <em>entire <em>army of Isengard.

"Well?" asked Anko.

"Well what?" Kakashi hissed back.

The two had hidden themselves and their wargs behind a group of rocks. So far, nobody had seen them.

"Well will you let me conduct my genjutsu?" she whispered angerly. They had to cross this area and the army was nearly upon them. Anko wanted to place a variant of _Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu_ upon the first few coloums so they could cross the area without the Uruk-hai noticing.

"It's too risky," Kakashi muttered. "Maybe if we use _Shunshin_..."

Anko slammed her fist into a rock in anger. "I am not leaving Cookie behind!" she snarled.

Kakashi flung his hands in the air. "Fine, have it your way!" he said, defeated.

Anko smirked. She conducted the jutsu then mounted her warg again.

"Everything's set, now lets go,"

They barely made it across before the technique wore off. Fortunately, they still managed not to be noticed. Unfortunately, they nearly didn't notice someone else.

"Kakashi! Anko! Over here!"

* * *

><p>Kuro yelled at the top of his lungs. Eldarion was not pleased with their position at all. He could hear Isengard's army marching, just over the rocks they were near. It was a wonder that the other two shinobi weren't spotted. Kakashi and Anko urged their wargs forward to them. Susano'o was the one to greet them.<p>

"It seems that both of you have become quite lazy, forcing a dog to carry you around," he said, leveling Kakashi a baleful gaze.

"Oh, shut up, you bird-flying nutjob," Anko said as she jumped off her warg. "From the looks of it, I assume that you met up with that really tall guy... Oh, what's his name?"

"Aragorn," supplied Kakashi in a monotone.

"Yes, him!"

Orochimaru gave his student a smile. "Indeed we did, Anko. We ended up forming an alliance with him,"

Anko looked pleased. Eldarion decided that now was the time to jump in with a perposition.

"Saruman's army is just over the crest of that hill. I suggest that we stage an attack at the rear to lower their numbers,"

Kuro raised an eyebrow. "Why can't we just wipe out the army?" he asked. Eldarion sighed with irration.

"The Battle of Helms Deep needs to occur. It cannot occur when Saruman's army has been made nonexistant," he said as calmly as he could. Kuro was still baffled.

"Why does it need to occur?"

"It just needs to!" snapped Eldarion. He breathed in deeply to calm down. "Things have been set to play out in a certain order in certain events. We should not prevent these events. Instead, we should lower the death toll and ease the passage of victory,"

Kuro, Anko, and Susano'o gave him an odd look.

"Why are you so defensive?" asked Susano'o. Before he could reply, Kakashi answered for him.

"Eldarion is from a future time of this world. I believe that he wants things to remain as unchanged as possible," he said.

"Oh," The entire team nodded with understanding. Kuro and Anko shot Eldarion knowing looks. Susano'o gave the tall boy a look.

"You are related to Aragorn," he said, raising an eyebrow. Eldarion frowned at him.

"Does it matter?" he asked.

Orochimaru cleared his throat, causing everybody to turn their attention back to him.

"Susano'o and I will do as you suggested, Hoshi," he said. "Kuro and Anko will join you and Kakashi to Helms Deep. Do not expect to see us for awhile,"

_*"Hai, Orochimaru-sensei!"* _they said, nearly saluting the Sannin. With that, Orochimaru and Susano'o _shunshined_ away. Kuro turned to Eldarion and gave him a feral grin.

"Race you to Helms Deep," he said confidantly.

Eldarion couldn't help but smirk. "See you there, slowpoke,"

But before either one could get moving, Kakashi grabbed their collars.

"Hoshi is the only one who knows the way to this place. You two can race when Helms Deep is in sight,"

Both Uchihas let out a defeated sigh. "Fine," said Kuro. "But can we get going?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes and mounted his warg as did Anko. "Lead the way Hoshi," he grumbled.

Eldarion gave the masked shinobi a look before scanning the horizon.

"This way," he said, as the group of shinobi set off into a run.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN:**

**Thank you to DreamingIn2Eternity and GlidingOne for reviewing! Thank you for the well wishes, Midterms are nasty. (But as a note, I have nothing more than several clubs, a paper, an English test, and Obscene amount of homework this week. Sorry, that isn't much really.) While I normally have fun writing this story, (hence the many updates and errors.) this chapter gave me a hard time. I am glad that I am consistant, because it isn't very easy. I hope you all will enjoy it and please review!**

_*Japanese*_

_Elvish_

* * *

><p>When the Riders and the three shinobi arrived at Helms Deep, Minato was rather impressed by what he saw. The whole place was massive, made entirely out of stone. The land in front of the fortress was very flat, and there appeared to be no blind spots. His blue eyes, however, were quick to spot the large drain in the thick walls. Obito's eyes followed his teacher's.<p>

"A couple well-placed bombs will bring down the entire wall," he commented.

Legolas gave him an odd look. "Bombs?" he asked, bewildered.

"You know, explosives. Like dynamite, fireworks," Obito said, listing different types of explosives. A flicker of recognition crossed the elf's face when the Uchiha mentioned fireworks.

"Ah. So they are colorful?" he asked.

Obito looked at the elf, stunned. He promptly turned toward Thèoden, searching for someone who knew about bombs. It turned out the very idea of an explosion was rare. Since they were still quite far away from the fort, Minato asked for Thèoden King to call for a stop.

"Is there something you would like to show us?" he asked, slightly bemused.

The yellow-haired jōnin smiled slightly. "Since we are to fight beside you, it would be best if you were familiar with one of our most common weapons," he removed an tag from his supply pouch and displayed it to the Ardians. "This is an explosive tag. We often attach it to our kunai or to a trip wire," Minato tied it to a regular kunai, curtusy of Obito. "Be careful," he warned. "Your horses might spook," The jōnin then threw the kunai as far away as possible.

In a matter of seconds the tag blew up, sending a good chunk of earth and stone as well as smoke and light into the air. The thunderous sound shocked the Rohirrim, Legolas and Gimli, striking them dumb. Gimli was the first to regain his voice.

"Why did you not use them before, laddie?" he cried, an accusating look on his face.

Minato felt sheepish. "It would have been overkill to use them before this," he said, rubbing the back of his head in embarressment.

"It would have spared my poor heart from stopping!"

Legolas looked at the shinobi with well disguised horror.

"You fight with these?" he asked, his voice shaky.

Rin nodded. "My Uncle had his leg ripped off by stepping on one of those by accident,"

Now even the Riders looked squemish. Admirbly, the display of power didn't seem to affect Thèoden at all.

"As long as you use those weapons wisely and inform all my men about them, I have no problem with your explosives. Come, we are late!"

With several spooked horses, the company moved on to Helms Deep.

* * *

><p>Aragorn did not like the idea of leaving Hoshi behind with the other shinobi, even if they were from the same village. The serpentine teacher left a bad taste in his mouth, even if they convinced him to join their side. The ranger was also sure that it was Susano'o's voice that he and Team Minato had heard the night before they encountered Eomer and his men. He couldn't tell if it bode well or didn't. Sighing, he looked around in an attempt to find his bareings. Much to his dismay, he saw what had to be at least 100,000 Uruk-hai marching in his general direction. Wisely, Aragorn urged his horse off in the direction of Helms Deep.<p>

_"At least I now know which direction to take,"_ he thought darkly.

* * *

><p>"Where would you like these, Miss Rin?"<p>

The petite medic turned to the young woman who was holding a pile clean blankets.

"Could you place them right next to the bandages, please?" Rin said, pointing to a basket sitting in a corner. The woman nodded and went over to put the blankets in their desired spot. Rin had decided to set up a sort of field hospital for the battle, and the King had readily agreed. The brunette had already recruited a slew of women to assist her, wheather they had medical knowledge or not. Lady Eowyn had been shoehorned by her Uncle into helping out in the hospital, and was currently gathering herbs. The White Lady had a cold, sour look on her face that just wouldn't leave.

"Jeez, what's gotten into her?" asked Obito as he walked over to his teammate. "Before she was all smiles and now shes a complete sourpuss,"

Rin gave Obito a look. "Gimli just told her that her crush fell off a cliff and her uncle has banished her to help out here," she said while arranging a cot. "She is able to fight, so why can't she fight?"

Obito frowned. "Is it because she lacks in experience?"

Rin shook her head. "I do not think it is that. Since you are here, could you straighten out some of the cots?"

The Uchiha huffed. "Fine," he said, while walking over to some of the messier cots. Rin knew for a fact that Obito hated making his bed so much that he slept in a sleeping bag instead of one. "You know Sensei left," he remarked casually.

Rin was surprised. "Really? Why?"

The boy gave her a large grin. "Frodo called for aid," he said, before giving a yelp and stabbing something near the cot. Rin hurried over, as did Eowyn.

"A rat," Obito said with disgust. "Flilty little buggers,"

Eowyn gave the Uchiha a cold look. "Why are you here?" she asked.

Rin gave the blonde woman a stony look in return. "He is my teammate, and will be bringing the injured here, along with my other teammates. Is there such a problem with having an extra pair of hands?"

Eowyn became silent and rather sullen. Rin shook her head and turned to a grey-haired woman.

"Lady Bisgu, I am in need of your guidence!" she called the older woman. The grey herbalist strode over to the young medic, a gap-toothed smile on her face.

"Ah, so Lady Eowyn has already gathered all the herbs, yes?" she rasped. Bisgu had taken to smoking a strange weed, and it had quickly ruined her voice. The smoke smelled terrible, but oddly enough, it made her breath smell sweet.

The noblewoman reluctantly shook her head no. The herbalist smiled while Rin sighed.

"Show me where you put them, then finish collecting all the herbs I asked for, please," Rin said while pinching the bridge of her nose. Eowyn quietly lead Rin and Bisgu over to a rickety table that was covered with carefully organized herbs. Two blonde teenagers were placeing each herb carefully in an assigined spot.

"Thank you Eowyn," Rin said absentmindedly. "Obito, would you mind helping Lady Eowyn with the herb gathering?" she asked her teammate, who was currently killing any rat that triggered his senses.

"Eh, What? Oh, sure," he said as he slew another one of the vermin, picking himself off the wall the follow the silently fuming Eowyn, while many pairs of astonished eyes followed him out.

* * *

><p>Kakashi was surprised to bump into Aragorn while they the three genin and one chunin traveled to Helms Deep. The horse seemed to be doing surprisingly well, considering how far away they were from the fortress.<p>

"Where is Susano'o and Orochimaru?" he asked as they approached him. The ranger gave Kakashi and Anko another look. "Weren't you both with Theoden and the men?"

"Yes, but Minato-sensei remembered that you had forgotten to return the tracking scroll that we had given you, so he sent us out to look for you," explain Kakashi.

"Or retrieve your cropse if you were dead," added Anko. "He wasn't very specific,"

Aragorn merely raised his eyebrows, declining to comment. Hoshi and Kuro were standing by the ranger's horse, looking out at the land below them.

"Can we race now, Kakashi?" asked Kuro. "Helms Deep is just over there,"

The Hatake squinted, trying to locate the place. Hoshi pointed toward it.

"It's down there," he said. "Can we, Kakashi?"

The masked shinobi was antsy. He really didn't like the idea of two wild genin racing towards what appeared to him as a minefield.

"You can relax," Hoshi said soothingly. "The traps will be set last minute. Minato-sensei is out, and he wouldn't attempt to blow us up, anyway,"

"Yeah," Kuro said enthusiastically. "So no need to worry!"

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose. Of couse Hoshi was right. The lanky boy had an uncanny ability for setting traps, so he would be the one to set the traps.

"Knock yourself out," he said, defeated. Both Uchiha grinned.

Aragorn gave him a look. "Knock yourself out?" he asked, concerned. Kakashi shrugged.

"Its a figure of speech, it basically means 'do whatever you want, but I am not looking out for you',"

Aragorn nodded, with a slight frown on his face. "Just what do they want to do?" he asked.

This time, Anko answered.

"They want to race to Helms Deep. I bet that Hoshi will win, what about you, Kakashi?"

Kakashi raised a silver eyebrow. "You know what my answer will be, Anko,"

She rolled her eyes. "What about you, Mister?"

Aragorn responded without hesitation. "I believe that Hoshi would win in any foot race,"

Kuro wore a look of mock offence while Hoshi stared at the ranger, touched.

"It looks like I'll have to beat you, Long-legs," Kuro said with a grin.

Hoshi pat the shorter Uchiha on the head. "Someday, my friend," he said.

"And GO!" cried Anko, in an attempt for them to get moving. Both were gone the second the words left the kunoichi's lips.

She blinked. "Wow. They actually took that seriously,"

Aragorn chuckled and urged his horse foreward. Shaking his head, Kakashi followed him.

* * *

><p>Obito did not like following the Ice princess around, as he had dubbed Eowyn as such. He ended up doing the most asking, instead of the blonde who knew the people better than he did. Obito really did not like the looks shot in his direction. So what if they didn't have goggles? It was not polite to stare.<p>

"Why do you follow me around?"

Obito was surprised by the Ice princess' question. She did not turn around to face him and her voice did not break from it's monotone.

_"Well, Hoshi did tell us that she learned to lock up her emotions due to Grima's...advancements,"_ he thought.

"Rin asked me to. Besides, you did not complete your job," Obito responded politely.

Eowyn then turned around, her icy blueeyes blazing with fury. The Uchiha quickly put up his hands in a sign of surrender.

"I know you want to fight, but wouldn't it be nice to have a strong person to hold down the more resistant patients?" he added rapidly. "The men respect you, and they listen to you. That will definately help maintain order in the hospital,"

Ice princess melted a bit, her harsh eyes softening. "Lord Aragorn is a healer. Do you think he would help us?" she asked.

Obito shurgged. "Probably after the battle," he said. "Otherwise, no."

She seemed to deflate at bit. Rin had refered to Aragorn as Eowyn's crush. The medic was absolutely correct. The young lady was infatuated with him.

But before the Uchiha could address the topic with her, he was tackled by a U.F.U. or and Unidentified Flying Uchiha.

"Obito!" cried one of his many relatives. That relative picked him up off the ground, and gave him a grin. "How are you, cousin?"

Obito rubbed the back of his head, which ached quite a bit. "Kuro?" he asked. The Uchiha peered at the thick-lashed, pony-tailed cousin that stood before him. "How did you get here?"

His cousin simply gave him a bigger grin. _*"Hoshi!"* _he called._ *"I found Obito!"*_

Obito gave the wide-eyed Eowyn an apologetic look. "Lady Eowyn, this is my-"

"Bastard cousin, Kuro," finished the other Uchiha, holding out his hand. "Pleased to meet you,"

Ice princess slowly took Kuro's hand and shook it. Hoshi arrived at the spot seconds later.

"Oi, Kuro. Rin wants to see you," he said, before giving a nod to Lady Eowyn.

Kuro groaned. "She set up a hospital, didn't she?" he asked miserably. Hoshi gave him a disapproving look.

"You are a medic, so be a good little healer and go help Rin with the field hospital,"

The black-haired boy sighed. "Well, I do own over half of Konoha's painkillers and disinfectants. Might as well put them to use," he jumped up the wall and headed up to Rin's hospital.

Hoshi's grey eyes followed Kuro's backpack until it was out of sight.

"I could never tell if he was exaggerating or not," he said with a sigh.

Eowyn gave Hoshi a small smile. "Would you like to help us find herbs?" she asked him.

Obito successfully attempted to keep his jaw from dropping. It seemed that her infatuation almost extended to Hoshi, simply because he shared some of the man's features.

"Sure," he said brightly. "Where do I look?"

* * *

><p>Kakashi followed Aragorn around the fortress to see Theoden King, while Anko found housing for their wargs. Gimli's enthusiastic greeting reminded him of a different greeting between Minato and Kushina, with her calling him the stupidest, most foolhardy shinobi she had ever met. Kakashi never got the full background to the situation that made her say that. All he knew was that it involved a village, a corrupt government and a whole bunch of turtles. Aragorn seemed to be quite out of it, despite Kuro's medical care. In fact, the ranger nearly ran over Legolas, who was standing in front of the door.<p>

_"You're late,"_ he said in elvish. The elf looked him over, concerned. "You look terrible,"

_"Kuro must need to improve his jutsu, then,"_ thought Kakashi.

Aragorn refrained from a verbal response, giving Legolas a large grin. The blonde elf looked at Kakashi briefly, and gave the Hatake a small smile.

Kakashi noticed Eowyn and Obito standing a ways off. Obito was talking with one of the Eorlings, while Eowyn was picking up a blanket when she spot them. Her eyes widened and she ran forward, tossing the blanket aside in the process. Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. The White Lady was clearly infatuated with Aragorn, Hoshi's father. And she was most definately not Hoshi's mother. He squeezed harder, sighing with annoyance. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw Legolas hand Aragorn something. The masked boy turned his head slightly to see it.

It was a necklace that he saw Aragorn wearing all the time. It was also the same necklace he saw Hoshi wearing all the time. Kakashi remembered that the _oni _who told them about Aragorn's tumble off the cliff had the necklace. He also remembered that Obito blurted out that Hoshi had that same necklace. The Hatake supressed another sigh. He hoped that this war would be over with soon. He did not want to be around when Aragorn discovered Hoshi's linage.

Obito saw that Aragorn had gotten his engagement necklace back. The man seemed to be very pleased that Legolas had rescued the piece of jewelry from the orc's clutches and returned to him. The ranger looked at it quite fondly, and carefully fixed the broken chain so he could hang it arounf his neck again. Obito watched Eowyn's face the entire time. It went from immense joy from seeing that her crush was alive to one of slightly crushed happiness upon seeing how gratefull he was for the return of the necklace and how tenderly he handled it. Hoshi arrived just in time to see the situation.

_*"A crush is called a crush for a reason,"*_ he said quite wisely, as Aragorn headed inside to talk with the King.

Obito nodded, and turned to look at his tall foster brother. "Shouldn't you be in there?" he asked.

Hoshi nodded. "Yes, I should," he said, before handing him a bucket of crushed herbs. He then jumped up the wall to crawl through the window.

"By the way," he asked. "Where is Minato-sensei?"


	12. Chapter 12

**AN****:**

**Thank you to Metoochocolate, DreamingIn2Eternity, Deadzepplin, Anonymous Reviewer, and GlidingOne for the reviews! Also thank you Captian-Winter for putting this in your Story alerts!**

**Sorry for the Late update. My mother confiscated my electronic device, so I couldn't write this chapter earlier. Thanks for sticking around.**

**_Thought-speech._  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Sam would readily agree that he wasn't thinking when he threw the knife Hoshi gave him. While Rin had taught all four hobbits how to throw knives, Sam was the best at it. So when he heard the blood-curdling screech of the Black Rider or, as Faramir had called it, Nazgul, the gardener hurled the strange weapon with all his skill toward the foul thing. The last thing he expected was for Mr. Minato to appear midair as the knife struck the Rider's steed.<p>

"Minato!" cried Frodo, shocked. The Ring's hold on the dark-haired hobbit had released, much to Sam's delight. The yellow-haired man had grabbed onto the bird-like legs of the beast, and was looking rather terrified. Neither steed nor Rider paid attention to the new passenger.

"Who is that?" asked Faramir, brother of Boromir. The man looked anxious and awed at the same time.

Frodo gave Faramir a large smile. "It is our friend, Minato. He is like a sort of wizard,"

The tense captian gave sigh of relief. "So he is not against us,"

Sam nodded, his eyes glued to the scene playing above him. The shinobi had climbed up the creature's side and grabbed the Nazgul by the neck. The Black Rider gave the loudest screech the gardener had heard so far, and drew it's sword. The moments after that became hazy and clouded. The movements sped by or slowed down, as if time was being played with. But something happened that caused many people to laugh, despite the danger they were in. Minato, who had been battling the foul thing, had done something to cause the Nazgul to go flying off it's steed, cluching it's black behind.

* * *

><p>Konoha's Yellow Flash liked Sam and Frodo. They were kind, polite, and had the perfect amount of wariness of strangers. But Minato swore to strangle the two hobbits when he teleported to their position. The kunai was in <em>mid-air<em> and it was hurling toward the _living embodiment of fear and evil._ The killer intent rolling off of the thing nearly paralyzed him. But the creature it was riding on wasn't half bad. It's bat-like wings had carried it over to him, so the thankful jonin could grab onto it's birdy legs.

_**"Nothing looks tasty,"**_

Minato almost let go of it's legs in shock. He had heard of summons only being able to communicate with humans through a mental link, but this was the first time he had encountered something quite like this.

_**"Strange meat holding onto my legs, will you get rid of the shadow on my back?"**_ hissed a raspy voice in a curious tone.

The shinobi was not sure how to respond, when it spoke in it's head again.

_**"I won't hurt the little tenderlings carrying the Master's precious,"**_ the creature pleaded._**"I will even help you, strange meat,"**_

Minato considered his options. Despite the distrust he felt toward all things reptilian, the Yellow Flash decided that he could use the flying creature's help. Sam and Frodo needed to get to Mordor, which was a long way from here. That is if the firey place in the east was Mordor. So it boiled down to dispatching an enemy and gaining an ally, or falling on the rocky ruins of a city below him.

Minato concentrated, reaching out to the beast. _**"You promise to help me, and I will rid you of the shadow,"**_ he promised it.

The animal gave a growl of delight. _**"I accept, strange meat!"**_

It flew close to the wall of an old building, which was the foothold the shinobi needed. Pushing off of the crumbling stone, Minato managed to grab ahold of it's dark flanks, climbing up the creatures back. Channeling chakra through his feet, the jonin stood up and grabbed the evil, shadowy rider by it's neck.

The screech it emmited almost ruptured both eardrums. It's armor-clad hands released leather reins to draw a sword. The blade issued chakra so dark and foul that it was poisonous.

_"Note to self, do not get hit by the sword,"_ Minato thought while tightening his grip on the thing's neck. He pulled out one of his regular kunai, and stabbed the thing in the throat.

A burst of energy poured out of the 'wound', rapidly corrodeing the metal. Any damage that occured was immediately healed, much to Minato shock. Then the shadow swung it's sword.

Only his naturally fast reflexes saved him, allowing him to grab another standard issue kunai to block the poison blade. The shock numbed his hand and arm, but didn't stop him. He quickly powered up a _Rasengan_ and shoved it into the black hood of the shadow.

The thing screeched again, lifting it's armored hand. Time seemed to slow down, and voices chanted in his head. The air became thick and heavy with dormant chakra, causing the hairs to stand up on the back of his neck. Minato closed his eyes and formed a hand seal.

"KAI!" he yelled, breaking the shadow's techinque with an audible crack.

The black robed thing swung his sword at him again, causing him to duck. The jonin fired up another seal, concentrating on where most of the thing's chakra was.

"_Gogyō Fūin_!" he cried, slamming his hand onto the shadow's. The screech was now one of fury as well as pain. The five-pronged seal should've worked, but it didn't. Minato was beginning to get worried.

_"Seals don't work, physical harm doesn't work," _he thought as time slowed down again._ "Genjutsu wouldn't work either,"_ Once again, the shadow swung his vile blade. Again, Minato blocked it. The shinobi was beginning to panic. _**"Ninjutsu will only cause too much collateral damage. Nothing seems to work!"**_** But an idea came to him. A disgusting, perfect idea.**

_***"One Thousand Years Of Death!"***_

* * *

><p>Frodo was quite unsure how to react to Minato's...unusual...tactic. But the Nazgul had disappeared as quickly as it had come, so the hobbit decided not to dislike it.<p>

"Frodo! Sam!" cried Minato as he landed the beast atop a rampart, sitting astride it. "I have gotten you a ride!"

If Minato had offered the two hobbits and their guide the steed before they had traveled to Ithilan, all three would have refused. But Smeagol all about ran over Sam to reach the animal.

"Ours feets hurts so much, Master!" he cried to Frodo as Minato gingerly untied the gangly creature's hands. "Wes never fly before, Master,"

Faramir ran after the trio. "Just what do you think you are doing!" he asked Minato, looking slightly indignant.

The shinobi gave him a smile. "You are Boromir's brother! Beware of the Ring, it does nothing but make you invisible. It does not give you any power,"

Faramir gave Minato a cagey look. "How can I trust that you mean the halflings no harm?" he said, suspicious.

The yellow-haired shinobi put his two hands together in the shape of a cross. Frodo was shocked to see another Minato appear out of a cloud of smoke.

"I will look after them, Faramir-san," said the cloud-made one. "This beast promised to help me, and help me it shall. We will fly to Mordor, or as far as the beast is willing to take us,"

Faramir frown, but he bowed his head slightly. "Very well. I am not one to question a wizard,"

Minato raised an eyebrow at the remark, but was silent. "I would just like to ask you how you know my name," Faramir said quietly.

Frodo had mounted the lizard-like beast, sitting in front of Sam and behind Smeagol. The real Minato had dismounted while his copy sat in the creature's saddle. The shinobi gave the man a gentle smile.

"Boromir spoke of you often. While I would very much like to stay, I must go. Saruman is planning on wipeing Rohan off the map, which I cannot allow,"

Faramir gave Minato a bitter smile. "Would you return to aid us?" he asked.

The shinobi blinked. He had no idea that a battle was occuring around them. But now he saw the ruined city, cut in two by the river, was teeming with soldiers. On the eastern side of the river, he could make out the outlines of catapults and _onis_.

Minato closed his eyes. "I will send aid. I know a few others more capable than I. I wish you luck, Captain Faramir,"

In a flash of yellow, the real shinobi disappeared. The copy smiled softly.

"Lets go," he murmered, as the Nazgul's former steed spred it's leathery wings and took off toward Mordor.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN:**

**Thank You to Deadzepplin, GlidingOne, DreamingIn2Eternity, AvivA-AvivA, REVOLUS, and e7cg13 for the beautiful reviews. A thanks to those who favorited either of my stories ( REVOLUS, e7cg13, dreamreaderh and lyra13x7)! Also thank you to anyone who put this on story alerts [misaki34, AvivA-AvivA, and e7cg13]. Thank you Sorceress Misha and e7cg13 for putting me on your Author alerts! And the final thank you goes to e7cg13, who put me on his/her Favorite authors list!**

**Wow. After those reviews I am beginning to feel that this chapter will be severely underwheming. But, I like most of it, so no additional changes.**

**AvivA-AvivA: Thank you for the insightful review. I worry to much about things, but spelling is not one of them! All your corrections are correct (shows how much this native speaker knows of the actual language). I do not have spell check, and the document uploader hates the software of my tablet... So yes, I need to be more carefulcareful. **

**Corrections will be made once the overall plot is complete. (This means that they will only be fixed when I have nothing else to do).**

**Sorry if I don't respond to your comment. I tend to focus on only one thing, then run with it. If you were mentioned above, You are being thought of in a high fashion.**

**Lets get the show on the road!**

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><p>Sitting in a window, Eldarion gnawed on a piece of chocolate as Aragorn reported on the size of Saruman's army. He had been digging through his belongings to make sure that Orochimaru hadn't stolen anything of his and found a scroll filled with chocolate, ground coffee and caffine pills. Not being one to miss an opportunity, the elf-like boy had removed a bar of semi-sweet chocolate and was eating it. Kakashi had raised an eyebrow at the action, but declined to comment. Anko, who had joined them to provide Intel on Saruman, made a face.<p>

"How on earth can you eat that stuff?" she whispered, her brown eyes flicking to the chocolate.

Eldarion shrugged. "It's good,"

The shinobi focused his attention to the commanders below. Thèoden was looking slightly worried.

"A great host, you say," he stated, his back to the door and everyone else in the room.

Kakashi quietly jumped down from his window perch and linked down to look at some of the maps covering two tables.

"All of Isengard has emptied," replied Aragorn. The man looked rather exhausted. Eldarion wondered if he should offer the ranger some chocolate.

"How many?" asked Thèoden, looking off in thought.

"Ten thousand strong at least," Aragorn answered.

The King turned around, stunned. "Ten thousand?" he whispered in disbelief.

"It will be less than that if Orochimaru carried out his job," Kakashi said, looking up from a map of the fortress. Seeing several confused looks, Kakashi clarified.

"We encountered another team of shinobi from our village and Aragorn persuaded them to assist your cause. Hoshi sent them off to attack some of the rear coloums, but not to alert the entire army of their activities. It will definantly come, but the numbers will be less than ten thousand,"

Thèoden did not seem to be mollified by Kakashi's information. He turned back to Aragorn.

"When will they arrive?" he asked, with an angry edge to his voice.

"They will be here by nightfall," Aragorn calmly responded.

Anko gave a groan. "Just perfect. Now they have the elemental advantage,"

Eldarion rolled his eyes. "Tell me how easy it its to climb a ladder in the pouring rain," he grumbled. "Besides, we have backup arriving around daybreak,"

The King of Rohan seemed to have ignored their exchange. "Let them come!" he growled, walking outside. He was followed by Gamling, his assistant, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. More of his advisors would have followed them if not for Kakashi stopping them.

"There are things I would like to discuss with you men," the masked shinobi looked up at the other two. _*"Anko, stay here. Hoshi, follow the King,"*_

Anko rolled her eyes, grumbling darkly. Eldarion climbed down and hurried after the commanders, shoving several people out of the way to reach them. Luckliy, he found them quickly. The incredibly tall Aragorn made the group easy to spot in the congested walls of the Deep. Thèoden approached the gate, but not before sending Gamling off with a message.

"I want every man and strong lad able to bare to be ready for battle by nightfall," he commanded, patting his shoulder. The man gave a quick bow, and ran off to complete his duty. Eldarion ducked and twisted past the men working on the gate, hammering planks of wood onto the gate to strengthen it. He ran over to stand beside Aragorn on the causeway outside the gate. The man's turned his head slightly to look down at the tall boy. His grey eyes flicked to the chocolate in Eldarion's hands. Wordlessly, Eldarion broke off a piece of the chocolate and gave it to Aragorn. The ranger gave him a nod of thanks and quickly ate the sweet.

Meanwhile, Thèoden described the entrace's defenses.

"We will cover the causeway and the gate from above," he said, gesturing to the ramparts above the gate. "No army has breached the Deeping wall, or set foot inside the Hornburg!"

_"If we don't cover up that drain, than the wall will be breached and the keep overrun,"_ Eldarion thought morosely.

"This is no rabble of mindless orcs," Gimli protested as he stood by the gate. "These are Uruk-hai. Their armor is thick and their shields broad,"

Thèoden looked insulted. The King approached the dwarf, displeased.

"I have fought many wars, Master Dwarf. I know how to defend my own keep," he said coldly.

Before Thèoden led the others back into the walls, Eldarion stopped them.

"Did you cover up the drain?" he asked.

The Eorling sighed. "Young shinobi. Your kind have kept pushing and pushing for me to cover up that drain. In all the wars I have fought behind these walls, the drain was never a problem,"

Eldarion's eyes narrowed. "My Sensei has shown you what our explosive tags are capable of," he said with false sweetness. "Saruman has developed a weapon that is ten times more destructive than that, and guess where he is going to put it,"

Legolas had turned green and Gimli's face had paled considerably. Thèoden didn't seem to be quite swayed yet. Aragorn was confused.

"Know you weaknesses and guard against them!" Eldarion hissed. "Or else you will have a bloodbath on your guilty hands,"

Thèoden King finally yielded. "I assume that you are skilled in masonry, Master Dwarf?" he asked the pale Gimli. The red-haired dwarf nodded, a gleam of pride in his eye.

"Indeed I am! So me where this vile drain is, and I will get rid of it," he answered in his gruff voice. Thèoden walked inside the gate and pulled a man aside.

"I want you to take this dwarf and several other men to the drain in the outer wall. You are to block it on both sides and block it well!"

The Rohirrim nodded and gestured for Gimli to follow him. With a 'harrup!' the dwarf walked off.

"How are things going?" asked a cheerful, accented voice. Legolas and Aragorn jumped in surprise. Eldarion whirled around to see his yellow-haired teacher walking up the causeway.

"Minato-sensei! How fare Frodo and Sam?" he asked with a smile.

The jōnin frowned slightly. "I believe that they were diverted from their original course, because they were in a ruined city with a river running through it. It was quite far from More-doors,"

"They were in Osgilith!" cried Aragorn, looking vexed. "That is far too close to the White City,"

"They are fine. The person in charge was Boromir's little brother. He allowed me to send Frodo, Sam and their guide on their way,"

Legolas's brow furrowed in confusion. "Guide?" he asked.

"Smèagol," Minato said shortly with a bright smile.

Thèoden poked his head from out behind the gate. "Are you coming or not?" he said with a faint smile.

With an assortment of murmured apologies, the group followed the King inside.

"Did you get Gamabuta to carry them to Mordor?" Eldarion asked his teacher, falling behind the others.

Minato shook his head. "I got this flying animal to carry them," he said. The elf-like boy noticed that Legolas had dropped back a bit to listen to their conversation.

Eldarion blinked. "Dark color, bat wings, bird feet, long tail with Nazgûl riding it?" he said.

Minato gave him a slightly confused look. "By Nazgûl you mean shadowy thing robed in black, correct?"

Eldarion nodded, then had a double take. "You sent them to Mordor on a Fell Beast!" he cried.

His teacher nodded. "It agreed to do so if I got the shadow off it's back, and I did. I have a _kage bunshin_ with them, so Frodo and Sam should be fine,"

Eldarion was shocked. "How in Middle-Earth did you manage to unseat a Black Rider?" he almost whispered, rubbing his ears to try an collect his thoughts. They had followed Thèoden and Aragorn to the inner wall's ramparts. Both seemed to be arguing about alliances and what Saruman's army had set out to accomplish. Kakashi was there too, to discuss something with the King.

"Is it necessary for me to tell you the technique?" Minato said, looking embarressed. Kakashi had subtly drifted closer them, looking curious.

"You defeated a Nazgûl," whispered Legolas. "And they cannot die. They are near impossible to defeat,"

The jōnin rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable. "It's not really dead so much as humiliated," he mumbled.

"Minato-sensei," Eldarion said seriously. "What technique did you use to defeat the Nazgûl?"

Beet-red and barely looking up, the shinobi mumbled:

"One Thousand Years of Death,"

Everyone went silent, looking at the Yellow Flash with confusion or shock. Then Eldarion began howling with laughter, as did Kakashi.

"You have to be kidding me!" roared Eldarion, gasping for air. "You used _that _technique on The Dark Lord's most feared minion!"

Kakashi, who was merely chuckling before, doubled over in laughter, much to everyone's curiosity and bewilderment.

"What technique?" Aragorn asked, looking rather bemused. Eldarion managed to stifle his laughter, but he felt his face heat up at the question. How the hell was he supposed to explain the 'technique' that was nothing more than a humiliating prank?

Fortunately, Kakashi answered. "One Thousand Years of Death is a technique so secret and destructive that only the village's most elite shinobi know how to use it," he said in a solemn, mysterious voice.

Eldarion felt his left ear twich as he heard a snort of laughter below them on the ground. Anko was standing in the courtyard with Rin, Obito and Kuro, all displaying various degrees of amusement.

_*__'Yeah! It's so secret that little children know how to use it!"* _she cried.

Minato chuckled, and shook his head. "The technique itself isn't very well known, but it is nothing more than a prank,"

Aragorn nodded, still looking rather confused. Thèoden turned to Kakashi.

"I know you would like to speak with me, lad. Come with me,"

The silver-haired boy bowed slightly, and gestured for Rin and the others below to follow him. Eldarion's ears twitched again as the Crebain circled above them, cawing loudly.

"Lets go with them," murmured Minato-sensei. Eldarion nodded, following his teammates inside.

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><p>Kakashi did not like the air around them. It was cold and filled with malice. The cloudy sky, void of any bright lights, promised rain. Thèoden had just ordered the women and children into the caves behind the fortress, which was a wise move. The King sat down on a chair in what Kakashi dubbed 'the war room'.<p>

"What is it that you would like to say?" asked Thèoden, looking drained.

The chūnin felt sorry for the man, who wanted nothing more than to preserve the happiness and lives of his people. But war was war, and Thèoden was a capable leader.

"My comrades and myself will be of little assistance to you in this battle," started Kakashi. "We are not used to fighting behind walls. Forests, fields, mountains, rivers we can do. In close quarters behind walls, our actions would be limited," The Hatake inhaled deeply and continued.

"Hoshi plans on setting traps at the last minute, just in case any form of reenforcements arrive. Rin and Kuro will run the hospital, while Minato-sensei, Obito, Anko and I will take the wounded off the site of battle. The only time any of us will interfere in the battle is when things are going severely wrong,"

Thèoden sighed, but nodded. "I have no power over your or your fellows. Just do what you need to do,"

With a bow, the shinobi exited the room.


	14. Chapter 14

**AN:**

**Thank You Deadzepplin, GlidingOne, Anonymous Reviewer, and DreamingIn2Eternity for reviewing! And Thank you WolfDemon1000 for favoriting!**

**I wonder how many of you (reviewers) live in a different time zone than I do (I live on America's eastern seaboard.). **

**But I am glad that so many of you like Minato's solution to fighting the Nazgûl. Rest assured, The Yellow Flash hasn't seen the last of that perticular Black Rider.**

**To Reviewer: I wish you better luck on your robotics activities. I am glad that this cheered you up.**

**So thank you all, and on with the show!**

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><p>Obito was not sure why Ice Princess had requested his assistance with approaching Aragorn. Eowyn had entered the 'war room' to talk to her uncle moments after the shinobi left and had exited in a foul mood. Since Obito had (foolishly) decided to linger nearby, the blonde had roped him along to persuade Aragorn to speak on her behalf. Her behalf of what, he really didn't care. All he knew was that Lady Eowyn had a very tight grip. She was dragging down near the entrance to the caves, where all the women and children were heading. The goggle-wearer noticed Hoshi standing near Legolas and Aragorn. Obito recalled Hoshi saying that he needed to distance himself from his father, but the tall boy kept indulging himself by often standing in the ranger's presence.<p>

The Uchiha sighed. _"I would not like to be Hoshi when Aragorn discovers just who his parents are,"_ he thought.

When Eowyn caught sight of Aragorn, her chilly blue eyes lit up. Her grip on Obito's wrist tightened and she dragged him along faster.

"My Lord," she called. When he didn't respond, she yelled: "Aragorn!"

Obito made eye contact with his foster sibling as Eowyn dragged the Uchiha up to the ranger. Poor Hoshi looked really confused, but shot a sympathetic look back to him. Aragorn seemed to know what Ice Princess was going to say.

"I am to be sent with the women into the caves," she said, looking upset.

Hoshi frowned. "Pardon me, Lady Eowyn," he said. "But I thought that you were going to help Rin in the field hospital,"

Aragorn gave Hoshi a bemused look. "Field hospital?" he asked.

"A temporary house of healing," explained the dark-haired shinobi.

Eowyn shook her head. "Miss Rin made it very clear that if I didn't want to help, than I should just leave," she said bitterly.

Obito sighed. Working in a field hospital was not for the faint of heart. But Eowyn could fight, so then she would be a fine choice for a medic. But if medics did not put their best into their work, the patients would suffer.

"What's wrong with going into the caves?" asked Obito.

"Indeed, that is an honorable charge," added Aragorn.

Eowyn gave Obito a look, causing him to close his mouth. Ice Princess looked quite ticked.

"To mind the children! To find food and bedding when the men return! What renown is there in that?"

Hoshi had a rather incredulous look on his face. "Renown?" he almost whispered with a twich of his ear. The boy turned to Obito. "Do shinobi abandon civilians to gloriously defeat an enemy while their charges stand there helpless? Do shinobi refuse to complete minute taskes in favor of gallaventing off on a difficult mission to bring them fame? Or do shinobi know what is expected of us and carry our duites with the greatest effort we can manage?"

"Indeed we do," Obito said, not even thinking about what Hoshi just ranted about.

Aragorn had listened carefully to Hoshi's spiteful scolding before speaking to Eowyn.

"My Lady. A time may come for valor without renown. Who then would your people look to in their last defence?"

Eowyn was still stubborn and unyeilding, dispite all the evidance that she would be of greater use in the caves than above ground.

"Let me stand by your side," she plead. Hoshi was clutching the pendant of a carefully hidden necklace, looking very uneasy. The boy was beginning to murmur words in Elvish, his grey eyes fixed on the scene in front of him.

Aragorn gave her an apologetic look. "It is not in my power to command," he said, before turning to walk away.

Desperate and a little angry, Eowyn yelled after him.

"You do not command the others to stay," she accused. The ranger turned around to face her, with a well-hidden glint of irritation in his 87 year-old eyes. Obito carefully pried the blonde's iron grip off his hand and dug through his backpack for a water bottle.

"They fight beside you because they will not be parted from you," she continued. The thirsty Uchiha looked at Hoshi, who had the unmistakeable look of denial in his eyes. Aragorn seemed to have gained a smilar look in his grey orbs.

"Because they love you," finished Eowyn. Obito, who was drinking, promptly choaked upon hearing the statement. It sounded as if Ice Princess had been reading one of the Romance books that Jiraiya-sama was writing. As if on cue, Hoshi began to sing.

_"Again she fled, but swift he came. _

_Tinúviel! Tinúviel! _

_He called her by her elvish name; _

_And there she halted listening."_

Aragorn gave the pale boy a pained look, and turned to Eowyn. The Dunedain seemed to be at a loss for words. The White Lady bore a look of embarrassment on her face.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, before hurrying down into the caves. Obito was unsure of how to react. He turned to Hoshi.

"Should I follow her, or what?" he asked. Hoshi was even paler than usual, his grey eyes wide. Aragorn released a heavy sigh. Ignoring Obito, he turned to Hoshi.

"What is that you are clutching?" he asked wearily, a bit of sad curiousity in his eyes.

The lanky boy's eyes quickly narrowed. "Nothing that you haven't seen before," he said brusquely, before snatching Obito's hand and dragging the poor goggle wearer off.

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><p>Aragorn and Legolas headed off to the armory to get an idea of the weapons and recruits that were to be used in the upcoming battle. Hoshi's behavior toward Eowyn and his response to his question unnerved him. The child was one large enigma, determined not to be solved. The ranger was pleasantly surprised to find Gimli, Kakashi, and the loudmouthed girl sitting in the armory. The three seemed to have organized the process of handing out arms to a pitch. Kakashi had organized the recruits into groups based on age. The group filled with the oldest fighters were directed to another room soon after they were issued their weapons.<p>

"What's up, Gigantor?" greeted Anko as he walked into the crowded armory. Aragorn raised an eyebrow. Legolas hid a smile. Gimli shook his head and sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Pay no mind to her greetings," said the dwarf. "She is apparently lacking in entertainment,"

Anko wasted no time in blowing a raspberry at Gimli, causing several people to chuckle.

"Hey Kakashi!" she yelled. "Do you know how to fix a radio antenna?"

The silver-haired boy whipped around, his dark eyes wide.

"Where did you get a portable radio?" he said enviously. "That is still new technology,"

The conversation quickly turned to one in their native language, so Aragorn turned his attention to more pressing matters. Looking over the weapons, most of the blades were passably sharp. The armor was not falling apart, so the supplies were in an overall good condition. He really couldn't say the same thing about the recruits.

"Farmers, stableboys," he said with a shake of his head. "These are no soldiers,"

"Most have seen too many winters!" agreed Gimli.

"Or too few," added Legolas.

Both Kakashi and Anko looked up from the odd wood and metal box Anko had placed on the table. The boistrous girl wore a strange contraption covering her ears.

"We take offense to that, Mister Leaf,"

The elf gave her a look, but otherwise ignored the two. Both children quickly turned back to the box, which Aragorn assumed was the aformentioned radio. Although Anko lightened the atmosphere, the air quickly turned back to it's heavy blanket of fear.

"Look at them," said Legolas, with mild anxiety on his face. "They are frightened. You can see it in their eyes,"

The busy hum of the room halted after the elf spoke his words. All heads, bar the shinobis', turns toward Legolas.

The blonde arcer began to pace around. _"And they should be,"_he continued in Elvish_. __"Three hundred, against ten thousand!"_

Aragorn was displeased with Legolas' pessamistic attitude._"They have more hope of defending themselves here than at Edoras,"_he pointed out.

"Aragorn, _They cannot win this fight,"_argued Legolas_. "__They are all going to die!"_

"Then I shall die as one of them!" he cried, striding forward.

"Whoa, Whoa," Anko stood up, holding up her hands. "Who said anything about dying?"

Everyone was silent. Kakashi gave the girl a look.

"You didn't listen to that argument?" he said in a slightly condenscending tone.

Anko raised an eyebrow. "You understand Elvish?"

Kakashi nodded. Anko rolled her eyes then turned to Aragorn, who was still a bit shaken from the confrontation.

"Hold this, please," she said as she shoved a strange bit of thick wire into his hands. "And don't bend it," she cautioned.

The ranger wanted to leave the armory, but since Anko enlisted him, he couldn't. Legolas, bless his disparing soul, had left the armory to allow things to cool off. Many strange looks were directed toward him, but the Dunedain ignored them.

"Just what are you doing, lassie?" asked Gimli to Anko, who was fiddling with several knobs on the box.

Kakashi answered for the busy girl. "She is trying to contact Susano'o, but I don't see why she can't use a summon," he ended in a grumble.

"This is faster," she retorted, not even looking up from the box/radio. Less people were in the armory, but the place was still crowded. Frowning, Anko looked up at him.

"Do you think you could lift the antenna over your head, Mister?" she asked.

Aragorn found the request to be utterly ridiculous, but he did lift the wire over his head.

_"I wonder why she cannot remember my name,"_ he thought, feeling progressively foolish as he held the 'antenna' over his head. Then she yelled something into what appeared to be a small ball of cloth attached to (another) wire. Everyone jumped as a hissing and crackling sound in the vague pattern of speech exploded from the headset Anko was wearing. The female shinobi gave a yelp of pain and fiddled with another knob as Kakashi attempted to stifle his laughter.

"Shut up!" she screamed at Kakashi. "No, not you," she said into cloth ball.

Anko quickly returned to her native speech for the rest of the conversation. Aragorn felt his arm slowly begin to fall asleep. The girl gave a sudden shriek of happiness, causing the remainin people in the room to jump. Anko promptly yanked the headset off her head, a huge grin on her face. With a subtle sigh of relief, Aragorn lowered his arm. The wire was promptly snatched out of his hand and thrown over to the box by the hyperactive girl.

"We are getting reinforcements!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "Helms Deep will receive reinforcements at twilight!"

Before Aragorn could ask the girl just who the reinforcements were and how great was their number, she ran off. The ranger sighed, drained.

"You should go take a nap, Aragorn-san," said Kakashi. "And you to Gimli. You both have a long night ahead of you,"

When neither of them moved, Kakashi added:

"I promise to wake you both up in a few minutes. Now go rest," he insisted.

Aragorn couldn't help but chuckle as he walked away to find a place to nap. The silver-haired shinobi was right. Being half-asleep during battle did him no favors. The nap would have the added bonus of shaving off some of the time spent anticipating the arrival of both the reinforcements and Saruman's horde. He walked into a room, slightly surprised to find cots laid out. Not being the type of person to question any form of shelter, Aragorn lay down on the nearest cot and promptly fell asleep.

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><p>Rin felt sorry for dimissing Eowyn, but the White Lady clearly didn't have any interest with helping out in the hospital. But her disappointment was heavily outweighed by Kuro and his never-ending supply of painkillers and disinfectants, which would be needed over the course of the battle and it's aftermath. Her helpers numbered to ten women and teenagers, who were lead by the elder healer Bisgu from Edoras. Kuro was briefing them on safety and what each of the shinobi's inserments did. Rin double checked all the cots, especially the ones that were in different rooms. It amazed her just how many blankets and cots were avalible, as each one would certainly be needed. When the brunette walked into the last room, she found that someone had fallen asleep on one of the cots.<p>

"Don't wake him up," whispered a voice, causing Rin to jump. She turned to see Hoshi doing one armed push-ups next to another cot, where Obito was sleeping.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked. "Besides the blindingly obvious," she said before he could say that he was doing push-ups.

The odd boy released a mournful sigh. "You have caught me red-handed," he said in a melodramatic whisper. "I have always admired the youthful exuberance of Maito Gai, and want nothing more than to become his desciple,"

The medic had to stop Hoshi from saying anymore because her sided already hurt from trying to hold back the hilarity his words inspired.

"Because watching your potential parent sleep was not already creepy enough," she snickered, her lively eyes flicking in the direction of the sleeping ranger.

Hoshi scowled at her. "I was looking for Obito and I found him in here. Ad-Aragorn just walked in and fell asleep,"

Hoshi's stutter on Aragorn's name did not go unnoticed by the young medic. She walked over to him and sat on the cot next to her tall teammate.

"What is Elvish for 'father'?" she asked him.

Hoshi went silent for bit, chewing his lip. _"Adar,"_ he whispered longingly. A tear threatened to fall, but he blinked it away.

Rin scanned her teammate's face, with a look of realization crossing her eyes.

"Hoshi, it's okay to miss your family," she said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. As he began to sob, Rin gathered Hoshi up in her arms. "It's okay to be homesick,"

A bleary-eyed Obtio lifted his head up and put a hand on his foster brother's shaking shoulder. "Yeah, Hoshi. You have a pretty cool home, so it's okay to miss it. Your dad is pretty awesome too, even though my dad is a lot cooler," he whispered, then yawned.

Hoshi gave them a watery smile. "Yeah, your dad is pretty awesome. But I think it would be better if we don't wake Ada, I mean, Aragorn up,"

"Does that mean we have to leave?" Obito said, with a pout.

Hoshi nodded, still looking quite sad. "He has a long night ahead of him, and I am not keen on giving him an addiction to chocolate," he whispered, pulling Obito onto his feet. "Let's go,"

Rin nodded, smiling slightly. The medic knew that Hoshi would have to return home someday. She just didn't want her friend to leave too soon.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN:**

**Thank you GlidingOne for reviewing and firefoxynk for favoriting!**

**Sorry that this took so long. Another long round of reviews spoiled me and I could barely write when there was only one review. Sorry for the complaints, but feedback really boosts my creative thinking. But thank you for the support!**

**On with the show!**

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><p>Minato shoved another kunai between the stones of the outer wall. The jōnin wanted to be able to teleport anywhere he was needed within the fort. He dug around his weapon's pouch, only to feel one more of his <em>Hiraishin<em> kunai. Minato sighed deeply.

_"Thankfully, this is the last uncovered spot,"_ he thought as he walked to the inner keep. Using a bit of wire, the Yellow Flash tied the kunai from a cobwebbed torch holder. Satisfied, Minato gazed at his surroundings. The sun was beginning to set, splaying shades of vivid red across the rapidly darkening sky. The air was chilly and tense, heavy with the all too familiar feeling of morbid anticipation. The shinobi yawned, greatful for the brief nap he took soon after leaving Thèoden King's presence. His sky blue eyes scanned the faces (or what he could see of them) of the defenders, falling on the ethereal and meloncoly face of a certain archer.

Curious, Minato walked over to Legolas, who was leaning on a sitting on the steps leading to inside.

"Something is bothering you," he said, sitting beside the elf. Legolas did not even turn his head to greet his companion.

"Are you too going to say that we can defeat this force?" he asked, eyes glued to the horizon.

Minato blinked. "Well, why wouldn't we?" he returned, slightly confused. He had seen the way Legolas acted when none of the shinobi were around. The elf was a cheerful fellow, and always seemed to look at the light side of a dark situation. It seemed unlike him to despair.

He turned his head toward him. "We number to three hundred men. They number close to ten thousand. How are we supposed to defeat such a force?" Legolas argued mournfully.

Minato struggled to hide the shock at hearing of such a number. It was rare for a shinobi army to exceed nine hundred on any given battlefield. But the yellow-haired teacher was convinced that they had the advantage.

"Hoshi will lay out traps that will decimate the front lines. Saruman's beasts will lose many soldiers in an attempt to take the wall. While my students and their comrades will not be actively fighting, that doesn't mean they will not help. I have several tricks up my sleeve," he said, counting off their advantages on his hand. "And most importantly, never underestimate the strength of a man defending his home and all he holds dear," Minato finished, leveling a sharp blue gaze into Legolas' equally blue eyes. "Understand?"

The blonde elf nodded, his face breaking out into a smile. "Kakashi and Anko said the same thing," he said with a chuckle. "They also warned me not to lower the morale of the defenders,"

Minato allowed a faint grin to grace his lips. "They have learned well," he murmured. Legolas stood up, putting a hand on the shinobi's shoulder.

"Thank You, Minato," he said gratefully. "Please excuse me while I prepare for battle,"

The Yellow Flash nodded as the elf walked away. Somewhere, a crow cawed. The shinobi stood up. Minato had to find his team and the other two genin and do pre-battle discussion. He unfasted a pouch in his flak jacket, allowing a scroll to fall into his hand.

_"Good thing I always carry a couple hundred extra wherever I go," _he thought. _"Or else I wouldn't last a week,"_

Standing up, the yellow-haired shinobi headed inside.

* * *

><p>Kakashi did not know what to do to wake up Aragorn. Gimli, who had fallen asleep in an alcove in the armory, had woken up on his own. The ranger, however, was fast asleep. The Hatake sighed. He couldn't use any of his standard tricks, as he did not look forward to dealing with a soaking wet Aragorn and a ticked off Rin. So dumping cold water on the tall man was out. Rin had also refused to allow Cookie the warg in a hospital room, due to sanitation. The masked boy asked Hoshi for advice, but the tall foreigner wistfully replied that he never went near his father when he was sleeping. So Kakashi had to resort to the last procedure he wanted to use.<p>

"Oi, Aragorn-san," he said, poking the man in the shoulder. "Time to get up,"

The tall man stirred, but quickly drifted back to sleep. Kakashi tried a different method.

"Wake up!" he cried, shaking the ranger's shoulder. "The siege is starting without you!"

The chunin had to jump back as Aragorn lept to his feet, disoriented. He stared at Kakashi with unfocused eyes.

"Good, you're up," Kakashi said in a monotone. "The sun is setting, so you don't have much time to prepare before the Uruk-hai arrive,"

Aragorn nodded, giving the shinobi a brief glare while cluching his head. Kakashi waited until the tall man stumbled out of the chamber before giving him a quick bow and leaving. The Hatake had seen both Obito and Hoshi wait for their human alarm clock to leave them before falling back asleep. Despite the ranger's status as a light sleeper, Kakashi wouldn't put it past him to pull a stunt like that.

"Ah, Scarecrow! We were just wondering where you were!"

Kakashi's silver eyebrow twiched at Anko's obnoxiously loud voice as he entered the armory. Everyone was gathered around a table, looking bored or, in Hoshi's case, depressed. It seemed that his teammate had finally become homesick. The Hatake took his place at Minato-sensei's right.

"Just to recap the current situation," the jonin said in their native language. "There is an army made up of roughly Ten thousand Uruk-hai that will arrive here in 3-5 hours. A reinforcement comprised of an unknown number of elves and Susano'o is to be expected here in 30 minutes or 2 hours. So what is the game plan?"

Obito raised his hand, as if he were back in the Academy. "Hoshi, Kakashi, Anko and I will carry the wounded to the hospital, which Kuro and Rin will run. As soon as the reinforcements arrive, Hoshi will lay his traps. You will provide backup to the defenders where backup is needed,"

Minato-sensei nodded at Obito. "That is correct. So does everyone understand their tasks?" he asked, blue eyes scanning the table.

_"Hai," _said several voices in unison, accompanied by nods of understanding.

Minato-sensei smiled. "Excellent. I am off to see Thèoden King and his men on the matter of long-range jutsu. You still have some time before our preparation starts, so use it wisely and don't cause any trouble," he said pleasantly before teleporting to the 'war room'. Kakashi wondered how the Rohirrim would react to the Summoning Technique.

Kuro and Rin looked at each other before turning to their teammates.

"We are going to return to the hospital. Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything," Rin said with a smile.

Anko nodded. "I need a nice long nap, so can I go with you?" she asked, finishing off with a yawn.

Kuro grinned. "Of course! Hoshi had some coffee, so we brewed some," he said, flashing a toothy smile at the meloncoly boy, who gave the Uchiha a weak smile in return.

The hyperactive kunochi turned to Kakashi with a serious look on her face.

"Could you stay in here to answer the radio if Susano'o contacts us?" she asked.

The Hatake gave her a curt nod, and the three left for the makeshift hospital. Kakashi turned his gaze toward Obito and Hoshi, who were sitting on barrels on the otherside of the table. Hoshi's mournful grey eyes were fixed on a booklet lying on the wooden surface. Obito's dark eyes were darting from his foster brother's pale face to the white papers, sewn together with red thread. Kakashi leaned forward to read the title. Much to his surprise, it was written in another language.

"It's *_The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi*,_" whispered Hoshi. "I translated it into Sindrian,"

Obito's eyes finally came to a rest on the book. "Can Lady Eowyn read Sindrian?" he asked.

Hoshi frowned slightly. "I think so," he murmured. His eyes then lit up slightly, his fickle ethereal aura returning. The tall oddball yanked out another white book from his backpack and turned to Obito.

"Could you deliver this to Lady Eowyn, please Obito?" pleaded Hoshi. The Uchiha raised a black eyebrow.

"What makes you think that I would deliver that book to Ice Princess?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"You want to apologize for not backing up her arguement," Hoshi answered, holding out the strangely written book to Obito. He sighed and took the book.

"I'll see you in a little bit," grumbled the goggle-wearer as he headed off to the caves to find the White Lady.

So only Kakashi and Hoshi remained in the armory. Both settled into a comfortable silence, allowing Kakashi to nod off against a support beam while standing up. Hoshi seemed to have fallen asleep, too; his eyes becoming glazed and unfocused, and his forehead pratically touched the table. An uncounted measure of time passed, leaving the shinobi undisturbed until a certian elf approached them.

"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi?" read Legolas uncertainly. Hoshi's head shot up and Kakashi quickly shook his head to wake himself up.

"Is the grammer alright?" Hoshi asked anxiously, wringing his hands. The blonde archer smiled at him.

"You wrote this?" he asked, flipping through the book. "You have a good hand for someone so young,"

The pointy-eared child flushed crimson. "I merely translated it. It is an interesting tale that reveals much about the world of the shinobi. I wanted to share it with my friends in Gondor,"

Kakashi noticed that Hoshi had included illustartions from an artist of everything from shurikin to flak jackets and a glossery of terms in the back of the book. Legolas handed the book back to Hoshi.

"It is a good book. I would like to read it someday,"

Hoshi gave him a half-bow of thanks, a large smile on his face. The archer returned to bow and moved to another part of the armory, leaving the two alone again.

"I see that you two have moved quite a distance," said a cheerful voice.

Obito stood in the entrance. Kakashi rolled his eyes, while Hoshi gave his foster brother an expectant look.

"Did she like it?" he asked as he put the booklet away.

Obito frowned. "She seemed to like it. What book did you give her anyway?" he asked.

"A compilition of the tales and deeds of various kunoichi with illustrations," replied Hoshi. "I think she would like the subject matter very much,"

Kakashi blinked. "You made it for her," he said plainly. The lanky boy nodded.

"I was going to give it to her when I got back, but since she is here..." he replied, trailing off.

Kakashi sighed, preparing himself for another long wait until the sound of a horn reached his ears.

"They are here!" cried Obito, bolting out of the armory, closely followed by his two teammates.

* * *

><p>Minato was standing next to the King when he heard a horn being blown. He had recently finished his speech and demonstration of various techniques, causing several of the officers to give him a wide berth. The shinobi exhaled in relief as a messanger from the gate ran into the 'war room'.<p>

Thèoden gave the man a nod, permitting him to speak.

The soldier seemed to be in shock. "A host of the Eldar have arrived, my lord," he managed to get out.

"Did you let them in?" asked the King.

The messanger nodded vigourously. "Of course,"

Thèoden nodded again, before turning to his officers. "Come, let us greet our allies," he said before walking out to greet the elves.

Minato, on the other hand, was a little less patiant. "May I meet you down in the courtyard, Thèoden King?" he asked, walking up to the man.

As soon as Thèoden nodded his consent, Minato _hiraishin-ed _to the courtyard. He landed right next to Susano'o, who gave a yelp of surprise.

"Minato-sensei!" he cried, basically saluting the jonin with a horn. The boy's signature bandages were covered in black _oni_ blood. "Is Hoshi here?" he asked, almost whispering.

The Yellow Flash nodded, pointing his chin in the direction of the newly arrived Anko, Obito, Kakashi and Hoshi.

Susano'o frowned, before turning and walking up to the tall boy. *_"Hoshi, why didn't you set your traps?"*_

Hoshi's grey eyes narrowed slightly. *_"Would you prefer to be blown up?"*_ he retorted.

The bandaged shinobi blinked. "You knew we were coming?" he asked in a raspy voice.

Before Hoshi could respond, Thèoden and his men arrived.

Minato's eyes flicked over to see the commander, who stepped toward the King. Much to his delight, it was Haldir. Thèoden had a rather awed expression on his face.

"How is this possible?" he whispered as Haldir gave him a slight bow of greeting.

"I bring word from Elrond of Rivendell," said the armored elf. "An alliance once existed between elves and men. Long ago we fought and died together," he paused to look up the stairs as Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli arrived. "We come to honor that alligiance,"

The ranger pratically ran down the steps, greeting Haldir in elvish as he reached him. The following action caused the shinobi to double check their eyes. Before Haldir could return the greeting, Aragorn pulled the Marchwarden into an embrace. Despite being taken aback, Haldir returned the ranger's bearhug.

"You are most welcome," he said eagerly, after releasing the elf from the embrace. Then Legolas stepped forward to greet Haldir.

Minato, however, was taken in by the disipline of the Elvish force. They moved as a unit, impressing him when they all turned and set down their long bows in unison.

Haldir had turned and addressed Thèoden again, but the yellow-haired jonin was not listening. In the corner of his eye he saw Hoshi sneak out of the crowd to set his traps in the wide open plain in front of the fortress. It was not easy to see with what little light they were granted. But even after straining his eyes, Minato gave up and turned to Susano'o, who was nursing a bottle of sake.

"Susano'o, where is Orochimaru?"


	16. Chapter 16

**AN:**

**Thank you Anonymous reviewer, Fireheartninja, e7cg13, Deadzepplin, GlidingOne and DreamingIn2Eternity for the awesome reviews! **

**Anon Reviewer: I hope any reaction towards summons will live up to your standards! It will take place after Helm's deep.**

**Fireheartninja: No need to apologize! I spend too much time around the computer and everyone says that it is changing my personality _... As for more characters, other than the ones from RoTK, I am done. These guys are pulling me in so many directions that I am beginning to lose track of them.**

**e7cg13: Thank you! As for the tagging, I was always a bit iffy on the concept. I (sort of) explain my reasonings. I always figured that tagging was weaker than useing the Kunai. But thank you for reminding me that it existed, because I completly forgot about it!**

**Deadzepplin: A very valid guess. However, I am not sure if he knows the elves are immortal yet and when in the timeline he began to experiment on humans.**

**GlidingOne: Thank you and no need to apologize! I do enjoy cliffhangers. :D**

**For all my complaining, It took me far too long to write this chapter, so I apologize. **

* * *

><p>Eldarion moved across the plain, laying as many traps as he could as fast as possible. He started setting simple explosive traps as far away from the Hornburg as he could, then moved further in. The tall shinobi carefully set up the boundries for genjutsus, which Eldarion had a morbid love for. Due to the sheer size of Saruman's army, the illusions would only be able to entrall roughly twenty to thirty Uruk-hai, eventually killing them. The explosive tags would get rid of of the entire first two lines. But little things like psycological warfare wouldn't do much to stop Saruman's beasts. Eldarion sighed as he scattered <em>Makibashi <em>across the short grass.

_"At least they will have incredibly sore feet,"_ he thought grimly, as he strained his eyes to see with the rapidly failing light. The dark-haired genin nearly groaned when he saw how much space he still had to cover.

"I'll still be setting traps while the battle is underway," he moaned aloud, before returning to his work.

* * *

><p>Susano'o blinked at Minato, who was waiting for an answer from him. The Yellow Flash was a bit annoyed that the bandaged boy didn't respond immediately.<p>

"Orochimaru-sensei," he paused to wipe his mouth. "Returned to Isengard to contact Hokage-sama,"

Multiple heads turned in Susano'o's direction. Anko looked especially baffled.

"Why would Sensei need to return to the Orthanc?" she asked, moving closer to her teammate. The Konoha shinobi had huddled into a corner as the Elvish troops moved into place.

Her teammate gave the loud kunoichi a disbelieving look.

"You didn't see the black, marble-esque sphere placed on a stone pedestal? It's really similar to the Crystal Ball Sarutobi-sama uses for _Tōmegane no Jutsu._ Sensei tried the jutsu on the ball to find you guys, but ended up seeing Hokage-sama instead," Susano'o paused to down his sake. "They were able to communicate with one another, so that is why Orochimaru-sensei returned to Isengard. Hokage-sama needs to know that you were found, or he will send out the ANBU and Jiraiya-sama,"

Minato and his students suddered. "Hoshi would be _beyond_ pissed," remarked Obito.

Kakashi nodded. "Indeed," he murmured. Minato was a bit surprised that they found the tall, thin foreigner's anger more terrifiying than the ANBU. That made the jonin wonder just why the two were so wary of Hoshi's wrath. He looked up to the ramparts of the stone walls, seeing Hoshi move along the outside. The genin was holding a coil of wire.

_*"Kakashi, Susano'o!*"_ he called over the two boys. _*"Could you come over here, please?"*_

With a sigh, the two ran over to assist their comrade. Both Obito and Anko turned to Minato at the same time.

"Sensei," asked Obito. "Why didn't you tag the walls instead of using your Kunai?"

Anko nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I mean, that way you wouldn't have to waste your kunai,"

The yellow-haired man shoved his hands into his pockets, a pensive look on his face.

"You know how I placed a tag on Hoshi?" he started. Both genin nodded. "Well, It has been acting funny, sending me a good distance away from him. It is reasonable to conclude that all tags would act like that. Also, tagging is too unreliable in poor weather,"

Obito and Anko gave Minato a look. "Poor weather?" the said in unison.

* * *

><p>"You mean that a thunder storm is supposed to happen tonight?" asked Susano'o eagarly. Kakashi rolled his dark eyes. He and the storm-loving alchoholic were helping Hoshi rig up a border of barbed, electric wire around the ramparts of the keep. His teammate had already done the entire outer wall (or the Deeping Wall, as the King had called it.), but needed one of the Lightning users to provide the charge for the right half of it. The wire they were working on at the moment was already prepped by an Uchiha back at Konoha, so neither the Hatake nor Susano'o needed to run chakra through the already humming wires.<p>

Hoshi nodded, not even looking back up. A feral grin appeared on the black-haired boy's dark face.

"This is _perfect_!" he just about hissed. Kakashi sighed. He, like most of the genin and chunin, believed that Team Orochimaru was batsh!t insane. When the trio finished outfitting the wall, Hoshi turned toward Theoden and the men in the Keep.

"Do not touch the wire!" he warned. "It can kill you,"

Everyone nodded and took a (small) step back from the killer coils.

Hoshi, Kakashi and Susano'o bowed before moving to right end of the Outer wall. Susano'o promptly ran over to Haldir, who, along with his soldiers, was defending the area.

"Did you know it is going to rain tonight?" chirped the bandaged boy to the Marchwarden. Haldir raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" he asked. Susano'o nodded, the feral grin still on his face. Hoshi put a hand on his shoulder, causing the shinobi to tense briefly.

_*"Could you explain to Haldir about the wire?"*_ he whispered into Susano'o ear in a commanding tone. Before he could respond, Hoshi moved further down the line. The bandaged shinobi gave Kakashi a questioning look. The masked boy simply shrugged and followed his teammate between the rows of elves. He saw their destination in the form of a certain ranger, dwarf and elf.

"Ah, Hoshi, Kakashi" said Aragorn as he caught sight of him. "Are you stationed here?"

"Not exactly-"

Hoshi's reponse was cut off by a series of explosions, which caused the walls to shake a little. Kakashi quickly ran to look over the edge of the wall and was stunned by the sight he saw.

"Hoshi," he murmured. "How many tags did you use?"

Bursts of white flame had colored the inky sky, one after the other. From the looks of it, that was the end of the little light show. Kakashi turned back to congradulate Hoshi when a thunderclap made him and almost everyone around them jump.

"I suppose it's going to rain," muttered the Hatake. Soon after he stated those words, raindrops fell from the dark, starless sky, followed by a flash of lightning and another thunderclap. He was rather surprised that Hoshi, Legolas, and the other elves had covered their ears in one form or another. They were slow to uncover them, but some of the first-row soldiers did as a message was passed down the line. The elf next to Kakashi gently touched his shoulder.

"The wire is humming," he whispered in his ear, in an accented and mildly confused tone. Kakashi nodded in thanks before turning to Hoshi, who had just uncovered his ears.

"The wire is live," he said to the tall boy. His teammate rubbed his ears, a grimice on his face.

"Alright," he said briefly. Aragorn was staring out at the plains, which occasionally lit up eith the odd explosion.

"This is normal warfare?" he asked quietly. Kakashi nodded. The man seemed to dislike the tags as much as the elves.

"Look," Hoshi said with a hoarse laugh. "They still march forward, though at a slower rate,"

Kakashi hated that his teammate was correct. No matter how many of their number got killed, the horde still pushed forward.

Legolas appeared to be shaken by the explosives, while Gimli was less unnerved.

Gimli turned to Aragorn, who wore a worried look upon his face.

"Well lad, that luck you live by, let's hope it lasts the night,"

A faint smile crossed Hoshi's face and a flash of lightning threw his features into relief.

Kakashi turned to the shaken archer. "Your friends are with you, Legolas," he said softly as he looked out at the approaching army.

"Let's hope they last the night," added Gimli. The blonde elf cracked a smile, as did the two shinobi. Hoshi's eyes glazed over slightly and his mouth dropped open.

_"Broken bones upon shattered stones,_

_The sky cries above us._

_Hope comes at dawn, with warrior withdrawn,_

_Returning to us dauntless."_

Looking at the size of the army, Kakashi prayed that Hoshi was correct in predicting the arrival reinforcements.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN:**

**Thank you GlidingOne, Deadzepplin, e7cg13, and DreamingIn2Eternity for reviewing!**

**GlidingOne= Thank you for the well wishes! And you will only be partially disappointed because I am addicted to cliffhangers. To sate your curiosity about your post-script question:**

**Eldarion/Hoshi left his world and entered another (the ninja world) through a desert oasis, ending up at a desert oasis in the Land of Wind. He and his companions ended up in 'Quest of the Ring' era Middle Earth through a tunnel in the Land of Earth, ending up in the Mines of Moria. So Hoshi/Eldarion traveled to another world and entered a different timeline of his world through that world, which is more like dimensional hopping with a little bit of time travel. My idea of it is that if Naruto was to meet his father, he couldn't do it in Arda. He would have to go into a completely different world and find a different entrance back to his own world, but possibly leading to Minato's timeline. So time travel could be considered possible, it's just stupidly difficult (I guess)**

**That sounded a lot better in my head. **

**Deadzepplin= Now that you say that, I wonder why I never thought of those defences myself. I totally agree with you, by the way. Helms Deep has an excellent location that was under-utilized.**

**e7cg13= advice of any kind will always be mentioned ;).**

**DreamingIn2Eternity= Thank you! Now for the excuse for my poor spelling. My document software doesn't have spellcheck. So I have to actually look up the words that don't look right *gasp!*. I know, such hardship. But seriously, thank you for pointing them out in such a kind way (nothing at all like me). I will fix them as soon as I have a chance.**

**Thank you all and on with the show!**

* * *

><p>Obito gulped as his eyes focused on the army of <em>onis<em>. They had come to a stop a good thirty or so feet from the fort's walls. The only movement came from the rows shifting to fill the gaps the traps made in their ranks.

"There are so many," he murmured to Anko as the stood above the gate. His companion could only nod, struck dumb by the number of orcs still left. The Uchiha glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. His expression did not go unnoticed.

"What?" she asked defensively. The kunoichi was wearing a hot pink rain slicker with designs of flowers all over it. Obito was not the only person who was staring at it.

"Nothing," he squeaked, as she wore a venomous look on her face. The Uchiha wisely turned his attention back to the horde.

"That must be around six to seven thousand," he murmured. A blonde teen-aged boy turned to Obito, frightened.

"Are you saying that our defences will fall?" he whispered.

"Hell no!" yelled Anko, surprising both boys. "We're gonna kick their asses all the way back to Saruman! We'll show that old fart!"

Before any of the (appaled) Rohirrim could comment on the kunoichi's language, one of the Uruks gave a roar. Than the **entire** army began to slam their spears against the ground, roaring, blowing battle horns and generally making an intimidating amount of noise. Many of the Rohirrim had noched their bows and drew them back, ready to fire. An old man next to the blonde teenager was struggling not to fire his bow. After a few minutes the man's hold on the projectile loosened. The arrow flew as the bowstring gave a hearty _twang! _and buried itself into the jugular vein of an unsuspecting _oni_. With a grunt of surprise, the Uruk toppled forward into the ground, dead. Both armies went silent as soon as the arrow struck the _oni_, greatly disappointing Obito. The little war dance the Uruk-hai performed was pretty cool. But now Saruman's horde was clearly ticked and wanted revenge. With a series of roars and a what seemed to be a command, the army charged. Anko pulled on Obito's shoulder.

"C'mon, it's beginning!" she hissed as she lead him down to the Deeping wall. The Uchiha pulled down his goggles, giving her a questioning look.

"This area is going to be attacked first," she explained. "Our job is to gather the wounded and bring them to Kuro and Rin. Minato-sensei can cover the gate and the keep,"

Obito nodded as the two ducked and dodged the Elvish archers to join Kakashi and Hoshi on the steps. Hoshi had his _Guan Dao _in his hands, looking anxious. He gave Anko and Obito a welcoming smile.

"Right on cue," he said cheerfully. "I would like someone to cover the steps and catch anyone who falls back,"

Anko gave the pointy-eared boy a grin. "I suppose that that would be me,"

Hoshi shrugged as more arrows sailed over their heads and out of sight. Kakashi was toying with a kunai.

"You didn't happen place any traps by the wall, did you Hoshi?" he asked, looking at the ramparts above. Hoshi shook his head, tensing.

"Didn't get the chance," he said rapidly, before catching a falling elf and flickering away. Kakashi quickly did the same, but with two elves.

"Watch out, they're quite heavy," grunted Kakashi before he _shunshined_ away. Hoshi returned as soon as Kakashi left.

_"Ladders!"_

Aragorn's commanding voice carried over the sounds of the battle. The shinobi tensed, preparing themselves for the influx of casualties.

"Hoshi, I need backup!" cried Susano'o from the upper wall. The tall genin turned to his two comrades.

"You know what to do," he said, before joining Susano'o at upper wall.

* * *

><p>The first thing Eldarion did upon arriving at the ramaparts was knock over a ladder, landen with orcs. Susano'o was doing the same, shoving the ladders sideways so they would knock over other ladders. The bandaged shinobi began to weave a jutsu.<p>

_"Sensatsu Suishō!"_ he cried as the raindrops solidified and struck the eyes of the Uruks scaling the ladders. Cries of pain came from below as the injured and dead climbers fell from their position. Eldarion did not have time to admire the other shinobi's work as he bifuricated two orcs and kicked another ladder back over the edge.

_"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" _screamed Susano'o.

The tall boy promptly hit the ground as a pair of wings swept over him. Eldarion turned his head to the left to see Aragorn lying on his back next to him, eyes wide. Without missing a beat, the lanky shinobi began weaving a jutsu, inhaling deeply. He quickly stood up I front of a ladder.

_"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" _Eldarion spat a tongue of fire at the offending invaders.

Much to his surprise, the Uruks ignited as well as the wooden ladder. Finding the move successful, he quickly repeated the technique on the next few ladders.

"Legolas, two already!" cried Gimli, who was standing beside him.

The archer turned to the dwarf with a miscevious look on his face.

"I'm on seventeen!" he responded cheerfully. The elf moved out of the way as Kakashi ducked by him, carrying two elves.

"What!" cried Gimli. "I can't have a pointy-eared elf outscoring me!" The red head he Ted his axe and slammed it right into the private parts of a ladder-climbing beast. Eldarion promptly set that ladder a-blaze, too.

Upset, the dwarf turned to the tall shinobi, not even flinching as the _Guan Dao_ sailed over his head to behead a different Uruk.

"What's the big idea, laddie, stealing my kills?" he growled, chopping off the leg of an enemy.

"To protect Rohan and my future," Eldarion grunted, setting another ladder aflame.

The dwarf went silent. He then looked up the the taller boy.

"How did a large seabird get here?" he asked, gesturing with his axe at the giant albatross carrying several of the wounded.

Eldarion left the question unanswered. The defenders had caught on and attempted to knock over or set fire to the ladders. While several times the attempts were successful, the rest ended in some poor chap being pulled over the side of the battlements. Anko usually caught those people with Sen'eijashu. Obito was periodically helping burn the ladders, although he mostly transported the wounded to Rin and Kuro's care. Although he waited with baited breath for something to go wrong, the battle seemed to be going smoothly. So why was he getting this feeling of doom? Eldarion effortlessly burned down another two ladders while Gimli finished of the Uruk-hai around him, counting all the while. But a movement on the causeway caught his attention.

_"Oh dear,"_ he thought, noticing his teacher standing on the causeway as a tortiseshell of orcs headed toward the jōnin.

* * *

><p>"Step back, we have another elf!" cried Obito as he carried a wounded elf into the field hospital.<p>

"Place him here!" a grey-blonde woman said, gesturing to a cot. Obito laid the unconscience elf on the cot indicated by the lady. The Uchiha gave her a short bow and left quickly. The woman, named Mægan, removed the armor from the elf and stripped the unfortunate fighter down to his small-clothes or, as the two medics called it, underware. Kuro ran over to the new arrival. The dark-eyed medic put a gloved hand over a nasty bruise on the elf's forehead, slightly healing it.

"He has a concussion," The Uchiha stated to Mægan, who hovered nearby. "Put a cold poltice on the bruise, he should be fine,"

The field hospital was humming with action as the shinobi brought in the wounded and they were tended to. A vast majority of the injured were elves, with a few humans here and there. Rin exhaled heavily as she struggled to heal a dark-haired elf who's hand had been cut off. The chakra of elves was very different than human chakra. Instead of accepting Rin's healing chakra, it put up a fight, only yielding a little ground to heal. After minutes of getting nowhere, the medic gave up.

"Rowena!" she called to a teenager. "Could you get me a hot iron?"

The honey blonde girl nodded, running off to grab an flat slab of metal resting in a fireplace. Rowena carefull handed it to Rin, who seared the wound shut. The elf gave a moan of pain, causing the brunette to wince.

"And this is just the beginning," she murmured while bandaging the stump. Her ears caught the sound of squawking as Susano'o's summon slid into the hallway with more injured elves.

"ARRRGGGHH!" screamed Kuro, noticing the large bird. "I just sanitized that hallway!"

Rin shook her head as several of the 'nurses' relieved the albatross of it's precious cargo and laid the males out on the cots.

"You're fighting a losing battle, Kuro-chan," she said with a hint of mirth in her voice. Kuro gave her a look of mock wrath before sobering up.

"I just hope they are't, Rin-san," he murmured, before attending to the wounded.

* * *

><p>Minato had taken it upon himself to defend the gate at all costs. The younger shinobi were taking part in defending the Deeping Wall, which appeared to be a minor success. Turning his attention back to the fugly beasts in front of him, the jōnin weighed his options.<p>

_"I could use Rasengan, but it wouldn't hit all of them. A wind jutsu ought to do the trick, but which one?"_

Staring at the broad shields, Minato began to weave several signs.

_"I might be a little rusty, but here it goes,"_ thought the yellow-haired teacher_. "Fūton: Daitoppa!"_

The _oni's _defensive formation completely fell apart as the blast of wind hit them, sending them flying backwards. Minato rubbed the back of his neck, embarressed.

_"That was weak," _he scolded himself mentally_. "Orochimaru-sama would find it disgraceful,"_

None of the Uruk-hai got back on their feet, though, so the Yellow Flash considered it a success.

But his eyes were drawn to the blocked up drain. Or what remained of the blockage. Slowly but surely, the black creatures had been chipping away at the stone to reopend the drain. To his horror, the bombs innocently sat right by the drain, untouched. The Namikaze immediately teleported to Thèoden King.

"Thèoden-sama," he said, briefly lapsing into his language. "Ask Aragorn to pull back to the keep,"

The older man raised an eyebrow. "Now why should I do that?" he asked.

"They unblocked the drain," Minato said with more urgancy. "They are going to blow up the wall,"

Thèoden's eyes widened, although he seemed reluctant to pull the elves from their spot.

"Go warn your students," he said. "And pass the message,"

With a bow, Minato teleported to the Deeping Wall.

* * *

><p>Aragorn could have kissed Minato when the shinobi landed on the skull of a persist orc who seemed keen on unsexing him, killing the beast in one blow. But since the ranger had a decided preferance for the fairer sex, he decided to refrian. Hoshi popped out of nowhere to burn yet another ladder and all the Uruks on it. The boy quickly relieved the fallen orcs of it's sword and stuck it into the battlements.<p>

"Is something wrong Sensei?" he asked wearily.

"They uncovered the drain," Minato said forcefully. His student's eyes widened in horror. The shinobi turned to the tall man, who was slightly preoccupied by a couple orcs

"Aragorn!" he yelled "You are ordered to retreat to the keep!"

The ranger was surprised. "Why?" he asked while beheading one of the beasts.

"Because the wall is going to blow up, that's why!" screamed Hoshi. The boy promptly took off, yelling something to his bandaged friend who stood by Haldir. Minato left the man behind with a warning look and in a yellow flash.

Aragorn nearly stopped fighting due to shock. He had seen Hoshi's explosions in the distance and how the wrecked havok on the horde of Saruman. But up close, in the wall...

"Duck, Gigantor!" screamed Anko. The ranger quickly ducked, as a blade swung inches above

his dark head. The small girl quickly disposed of the Uruk-hai before picking up several of the wounded and disappearing.

The Dunedain stood up, remembering Thèoden's command.

_"Pull back to the keep!"_ he commanded the brave elves around him. Aragorn could hear Haldir repeat the same words. Obediantly, alibit with confusion, the soldiers pulled back to the keep. The ranger, Legolas, Gimli, Haldir and several others stayed behind to cover the retreat as the Uruks kept climbing over the wall.

"Stand back from the outer edge!" cried Susano'o. Heeding his warning, Aragorn moved away from the ladders.

No sooner than he stepped back did something awe-inspiring and terrifying occur. Arcs of lightning kept across the wall, flowing between wires and swords stuck upright in the battlements. None of the orcs were able to make it through the barrier alive.

"Go!"

Aragorn turned to see a protesting Gimli and Legolas being hurried off to the entrance of the keep by Obito and Kakashi, along with several other elves. Now, only he, Haldir, Hoshi and Susano'o remained at the wall. Haldir was breathing heavily and cluching his side, which was streaked with blood.

_"Go, Haldir!" _commanded Hoshi. _"You need to have that wound checked!"_

The Marchwarden was hesitating to leave them. Susano'o gave the elf a stern look.

"Go, Haldir-taichō!" he cried. "And you too, Strider! Hoshi, go with them,"

Before the ranger could move, the tall boy grabbed his and Haldir's upper arms and pulled them away towards the keep.

"What about Susano'o?" panted out the blonde elf.

"He knows how to take care of himself," Hoshi said bursquely, looking straight ahead.

All of a sudden, Haldir was wrenched from the shinobi's iron grip by none other then Susano'o on his giant bird.

"RUN!" he screamed as the wall exploded behind them.


	18. Chapter 18

**AN:**

**Thank you so much FireheartNinja, GlidingOne, Thrae Elddim, DreamingIn2Enternity, and QueenPersephoneofHades for reviewing! Thank you to the Favoriters: Deathlord135, QueenPersephoneofHades, Thrae Elddim, and Esmeraude11. Also thank you Thrae Elddim and QueenPersephoneofHades who put this on their story alerts! And the last expression of gratitude goes to Thrae Elddim and QueenPersephoneofHades who put me on their favorite authors list!**

**This took too long. Between schoolwork, personal problems and the apparent lack of inspiration, this short chapter should have been out _Monday_. **

**I digress.**

**DreamingIn2Enternity: I will try to fufill this wish. However, I don't know if I will be able to write a chapter like that until I get to Return of the King. So please hold tight for two more chapters of my lazy writing and then I hope I can get to that better chapter (If I can even write like that. I am too much of a slacker, so I prefer to jump around moments in an event).**

**Thrae Elddim: Thank you for the lovely review on part I as well! Haldir (apparently) didn't go to Helms Deep in the books, so it felt alright to keep him alive.**

**QueenPersephoneofHades: Thank you! I have seen at least two LotRs and Naruto crossovers that I liked, but neither were complete. In fact, one never got out of Rivendell, which was a pity. That was a good crossover.**

**Now on to the show!**

The shock of the blast nearly knocked Eldarion off his feet. The boy stumbled, but managed to stay upright. Aragorn was not so lucky.

"Are you alright?" he said, offering the ranger a hand. The man winced slightly as he stood up.

"I've been worse,'' he managed to grind out between clenched teeth.

"C'mon, you two, get your asses in gear!" screamed Anko, still wearing the pink rain slicker, despite the lack of rain. "You have an entire horde of fugly beasts behind you! And Minato-sensei wants to seal of the entrance!"

Aragorn grit his teeth and limped off to the keep. Eldarion followed him from behind, watching his _Ada's_back. The lanky shinobi kept rubbing his ears, which were ringing from the sound of the explosion. Aragorn was the first to reach the steps, and was offered support by Minato-sensei. The ranger gratefully leaned on the shorter shinobi. Breaking into a sprint, Eldarion crossed the threshold.

"Everybody in?" asked Sensei. Both Aragorn and Eldarion nodded. With a hand seal, a barrier of dark grey mist formed across the entrance.

"Is that a new technique?" asked Anko. The jōnin shook his head.

"No," he answered while beginning to walk up the steps with Aragorn. "I merely modified _Shishienjin _to suit our purposes,"

The ranger looked at the barrier with mild interest. "Do you think that you could do that to the gate?" he asked.

Minato-sensei shrugged slightly. "Depends if we'll need it or not," he said thoughtfully. Eldarion chewed his lip, looking anxious.

"Who of our number is at the gate?" he asked his teacher.

"Obito is keeping the causeway clear for the time being," responded the jōnin. "I will take over the position when I return,"

Aragorn frowned. "Return from where?" he asked, bemused.

"The hospital," Minato-sensei answered cheerfully. "You looked like you sprained your ankle pretty badly. Your wrist is not in good shape either,"

The tall man exhaled through his nose, looking rather tired. The Yellow Flash turned toward Anko and Eldarion as they entered the inner keep.

"I want you two to go to the gate. The beasts are probably going to try and scale the walls there," he commanded.

Both genin nodded and ran over to a certain sliver-haired chūnin who was standing to the right of the gate.

Without turning to his comrades in greeting, the Hatake began to fill the newcomers in.

"Obito has been roasting those _oni_ alive whenever they get too close," he stated in a monotone. "I am thinking that they are beginning to fear fire,"

The Rohirrim archers only fired the occasional arrow at the invading force now. Their spirits had risen from the success of the earlier retreat. The were now starting to taunt the Uruk-hai as they killed the beasts.

"Why do I have the feeling that something is about to go very wrong?" muttered Eldarion. Both shinobi turned to their foreign comrade with a look of panic in their eyes.

"Do you think that they have another explosive?" Anko asked shrilly.

"Or did Orochimaru decide to team up with Saruman?" added Kakashi. The kunoichi venomously glared at the masked boy, who quailed slightly under her gaze.

The tall genin rolled his eyes and shook his head. "It has to do with after the battle, at Isengard," said Eldarion as he looked over the ramparts to see Obito and, surprisingly, Susano'o warding off the relentless waves of orcs. "Gandalf and Orochimaru are going to butt heads over something,"

The bandaged shinobi looked up at Eldarion. "Hoshi, could you stand in while Obito gets some rest?" he asked. "Goggles here is going to collapse,"

"Hey!" cried the aformentioned Uchiha in mock offense, jumping up to the battlements. He turned to Eldarion, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't push yourself," he muttered before walking off. Bemused, the pointy-eared boy shurgged off his foster brother's well-meaning comment and jumped down to join Susano'o on the causeway.

* * *

><p>Aragorn was impressed with Rin's makeshift hospital. The place was spotlessly clean, and the injured were frequently checked on by the brunette's helpers. He had taken a look at his ankle, which wasn't as badly injured as he had thought. His wrist, however, was nearly broken.<p>

"Ah, Strider! Didn't think I'd see you here,"

Aragorn turned his head to see Kuro, Obito's relative. The boy's dark, almond-shaped eyes were nearly closed due to the grin the child was giving him.

"Haldir was giving me trouble, and since Rin is a better medic than me, I was shipped out to fix you up,"

The ranger raised an eyebrow. He had always figured that Susano'o was a healer, due to the bandages covering the boy's dark arms. But Kuro seemed to know what he was doing as he examined the man's damaged ankle. Aragorn's grey eyes widened as he saw a green light emit from the boy's hand. The healer's brow forrowed as he placed his hand on the ankle. Immediately, Aragorn could feel his injury begin to heal.

"Hoshi told me that you are able to do something like this, but you need plants," murmured Kuro, removing his hand from the ranger's ankle. The boy dug through a bag that he brought with him and pulled out a circle of cloth along with a brace that was quite similar to Hoshi's.

"Hope you don't mind using this," prattled Kuro while slipping the cloth over his ankle and putting on the odd brace. "You might not be able to wear your boot with that,"

Aragorn silently agreed. Like Hoshi's brace, it was made out of black cloth and metal with odd fastenings that made loud noises when adjusted.

"Your wrist, please," Kuro requested with a small smile. The shinobi healer carefully took a old of his bruised and bloody wrist. The green aura reappeared around the boy's palm. Clucking like an old matron, he said:

"You are lucky that you didn't break this wrist,"

Aragorn nodded, wincing slightly as several of the deeper cuts closed with a hiss. His wrist was throbbing, and wasn't healing as fast as his ankle. Kuro began to scowl, and the aura brightened.

"You don't have any elf-blood in you, by chance?" he asked, nearly wrapping his hand around the ranger's wrist.

"It has been removed over sixty-four generations," Aragorn answered, slightly baffled.

The healer's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he quickly removed his hand.

"I guess you're just going to have to let time heal this injury," Kuro said with a trace of humor in his voice. "Our healing techniques work very slowly on elves, and those with elven ancestry,"

Aragorn nodded slightly as Kuro put a black cloth splint with on his wrist. "So unless you are ambidextrous, don't go fighting with a sword,"

The tall man frowned. "I can return to the battle?" he asked, bewildered. The boy shrugged.

"Not for an hour at least. While I managed to heal your ankle, you should rest it while you can,"

The ranger sighed. "Understood," he murmured. Kuro gave him a sympathetic smile before his dark eyes drifted from his face to the base of his neck.

"Oh, you found your necklace!" he exclaimed. "It's pretty, though I assume it was a gift,"

Aragorn raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?" he asked.

The healer gave him a mischivous grin. "It is much too feminine for any man from this culture,"

With a bow, Kuro darted away to some other end of the hospital, leaving a rather irked ranger behind.

* * *

><p>When Minato returned to the gate, he was met with chaos. The Rohirrim had packed against the gate, while the elves defended the ramparts. He could barely hear himself think over the din of battle.<p>

"What in the name of Shodai Hokage is going on!" he cried to Kakashi, who was standing off to the left of the gate beside a slumped form. Running over to his student, the jōnin noticed that Kakashi was gripped his arm. The chūnin was wounded, and breathing heavily.

"Reinforcements..._hah..._the orcs got..._hah_...reinforcements," he panted out, wincing. "Susano'o," he gestured to the form beside him. "recently..._hah..._passed out,"

Minato put a soothing hand on Kakashi's shoulder. "Take yourself and Susano'o to the hospital," he commanded. With a small bow, his silver-haired student picked up the unconscience boy and ran inside. Minato jumped up to the ramparts, narrowly missing being stabbed by a familiar face.

"Minato-sensei!" cried Obito. The Uchiha was burning covered in black, smoking blood. The jōnin's blue eyes could see ropes and ladders burning brightly against the inky night. Looking down to the causeway, he could see that it was being defended by Hoshi and someone else.

"Glad you could join us, Minato,"

The yellow-haired man whirled around to see Legolas stabbing an _oni_ in the eye with an arrow. The fierce archer still looked as if he had just stepped out of a hair salon; not a blonde hair out of place.

"Thirty, Gimli!" he yelled to one of the defenders on the causeway.

"Thirty one!" a gruff voice responded. At that, the elf pulled out his two knives and began gracefully killing the orcs surrounding him. Obito took the opportunity to burn down the ladder in front of Legolas, much to the elf's disappointment. Deciding to do his part, Minato teleported to the Deeping Wall. Unsurprisingly, the Yellow Flash appeared in the middle of the foul beasts. The fact that they were unable to dodge _Rasengan_ was even less surprising.

_"Let's see, Bird-Hare-Horse-Ram. That is the seals for Powerful Wind Wave, right?"_ he thought, feeling the chakra build up. Looking at the angry creatures around him, the shinobi shrugged. _"One shouldn't waste a perfectly good jutsu," _he thought, unleasing the technique. The blade of wind slammed into the orcs, cutting them in half, as well as the orcs behind them.

_"The sun should be raising soon,"_ mused Minato as he threw his kunai, some inbedding themselves in the vital organs of his enemies. _"They are weaker in the daylight. The siege should end by the morning,"_ Slitting the soft thoat of an _oni_, the Yellow Flash continued his battle by the light of the burning ladders.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN:**

**Thank you DreamingIn2Enternity, Lucanii, and Immortalis Cruor Elf for reviewing! Also thank you Esmeraude11, Copykat2, Zhuhe, and Immortalis Cruor Elf for putting this tale on their Story alerts. Another Thank You to Esmeraude11, Copykat2, Zhuhe, escalypse, and Immortalis Cruor Elf for favoriting either or both of my stories. And thank you Immortalis Cruor Elf for listing me in your Author alerts.**

**Thank you all for your support! Reviews and all that other stuff of any kind make my day!**

**Now on with the show!**

* * *

><p>Eldarion wanted to pause to wipe away the blood that was trickling into his eyes, but he couldn't. A <em>Guan Dao<em> was supposed to be in constant motion, and it usually took some time for him to achieve the mometium he was at now. Gritting his teeth, the boy screwed his grey eyes shut, relying on his other senses to tell him where the orcs were. A sudden burst of pain erupting from his arm revealed that to be an unwise decision. Eldarion quickly wiped away the blood in his eyes, and slaughtered the beast that cut his arm.

"When the hell did they get so bold!" cried Susano'o. The shinobi had been using his bandages like a cross between rope and ninja wire, which had proved very effective. However, the bandaged boy was tiring fast.

Eldarion leapt onto the head of an Uruk to look into the distance. What he saw made him curse.

"They have reinforcements!" he screamed, stabbing his perch and killing its surrounding fellows with a swing of his polearm. "And a batting ram!"

"A what now?" asked Susano'o, looking bewildered. Eldarion could hear cries of "Brace the gate!" from behind the walls. Before the elf-like boy could explain to his comrade what a batting ram was, he was point blank introduced to it. With a yelp of pain and a body flicker, Susano'o left the causeway, leaving Eldarion to deal with the Uruk-hai.

"Brilliant," he muttered before cutting the heads off half of the carriers of the batting ram.

_"It's all for the best, though. Susano'o was becoming chakra exhausted anyway,"_ The tall genin forced himself to forget his own pain, and continued to defend the gate.

* * *

><p>"I'll be grateful for your help!" exclaimed Rin, when Aragorn approached her, offering his assistance. "Your techniques would be more effective on the elves. Kuro managed to find quite a bit of Kingsfoil. It's on the table by the baskets. Just wash your hands, and Bisgu will direct you to some patients,"<p>

With a small bow, and a faint smile, the ranger strode off to the herbs. Rin turned her attention back to Kakashi, bandaging his wounded arm.

"I take it that things at the gate aren't going well," she said quietly. Kakashi nodded.

"The horde recived reinforcements. We are holding for now,"

"For now?" asked Kuro, who was treating Susano'o. The bandaged boy was low on chakra and had a nasty bruise spanning his torso, discoloring his dark skin.

"Hoshi and Gimli are defending the gate, but I am not sure how long Hoshi can stand. He didn't receive any treatment for the injuries he received when the wargs attacked. He also doesn't have high chakra levels, and he's been burning the ladders for quite some time,"

"Obito recently took over that," whispered Susano'o, peering out through nearly-closed eyes.

"But Minato-sensei rejoined the fray. If all goes well, the enemy will be nonexistant by mid- morning," finished Kakashi. Rin nodded, patting his uninjured arm. The Hatake sniffed the air, a relaxed look crossing his face.

"Looks like Strider-san likes the smell of Kingsfoil," said Kuro with a grin. Aragorn was by Haldir, who had received a nasty side wound. Both Rin and Kuro had attempted to heal the wound, but (in Kuro's case) only made it worse. Shaking her head, Rin turned to her fellow medic.

"Aragorn uses the herb as a medium of sorts to channel chakra into a wound, healing it. He seems to be the one of the few who can do that,"

The Uchiha's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really? I read that Kingsfoil only has a pleasant smell,"

"You forgot that people from a certain line can use the herb as a sort of miracle cure," mumbled Susano'o. "The book called it the line of Lùthien, I think,"

Kakashi's brow furrowed, his hand beneith his chin. "So it's like a bizarre sort of _Kekkai Genkai_?" he asked, looking at Rin.

The brunette shrugged. "You can ask him, you know,"

Sighing, the masked chūnin stretched. "I doubt that he would know. Do you think I can return to battle?" he asked, standing up.

Rin nodded, giving her teammate a sad smile. "Just be careful," she warned. Kakashi waved offer her concern and darted out of the hospital, nearly hitting Anko.

"Watch where you're going!" she snapped, carrying two Rohirric soldiers. Kuro immediately sprang back to work, bringing one of the two to Kakashi's former cot. Rin found empty cot next to Haldir's and with the help of Mægan, she cleared the wound.

"Does anyone in here know if we are getting reinforcements?" she yelled, startling several of the patients.

With an aggrivated sigh, Aragorn answered Anko.

"By dawn, we should have a calvery of roughly a thousand men," he said shortly. The kunoichi visibly relaxed.

"We should be able to hold out from here until then," she said cheerfully, poising to leave.

"From here? asked Kuro, confused. Anko was recieving several befuddled looks from patients and healers alike.

"The gate is only going to hold for three more hours," she explained. "And if we want to prevent a massive loss of life, we are going to retreat here before making our move. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to return to battle,"

The hospital was frozen. It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

"WHAT! I JUST CLEANED THE HALLWAY!" shrieked Kuro. Rin sighed, shook her head, and returned her attention back to the bleeding soldier.

* * *

><p>Eldarion was not sure when Gimli joined him in the defense of the gate. But he was grateful to have the bold dwarf by his side.<p>

"Thirty, Gimli!"

Legolas and Gimli were still counting the orcs they killed, much to the tall boy's amusement.

"Thirty one!" returned the dwarf, triumphant. Eldarion pulled out a kunai and violently stabbed an Uruk-hai that was about cleave Gimli's skull in two. The boy was then suddenly struck in the stomach by a sort of pole, knocking the wind out of him. Blood spurted from his mouth, nearly choaking the genin. Kunai in hand, Eldarion stabbed his attacker in the heart, stumbling back. The elf-like shinobi managed to swing his _Guan Dao_ with one hand, causing the orcs to back up. Breathing heavily, the blood-soaked boy released a wave of killer intent.

_"Back. Off,__"_ he snarled. Gimli stood beside him, axe raised.

The army on the causeway stopped moving. A nasty chuckle rippled through the ranks, developing into full-blown laughter. One of the Uruk-hai stepped forward, towering over the rest.

"Looks like the little half-breed has developed a spine," he growled, laughing.

Eldarion recognized him from the dungons of Saruman, where his shadow clone was captured. The genin's grip on his weapons tightened as he shook with barely concealed rage.

"Gimli," he whispered in a commanding tone. "Get back inside,"

The dwarf raised an eyebrow, but quickly took his leave, slipping inside when the gatekeepers opened it to a mere crack. The wooden door closed with a _BANG_, and the tall genin could hear it being bolted.

"Is that an improvement?" he asked politely, pocketing his kunai and hefting his _Guan Dao_ onto his shoulder. Out of the corner of his grey eye, he could see Minato-sensei moving closer to him.

The Uruk-hai snorted. "It would be a lot more fun to break you, then," he said with a foul grin.

With a nod, Eldarion promptly spat a senbon into the creature's two yellow eyes.

* * *

><p>Gimli could only watch as Hoshi took on twenty something Uruks at once without any assistance. The tall boy seemed to be sweating blood, he had received so many injuries.<p>

"Has that child lost his mind?" asked Legolas, looking down at the causeway. Obito joined them, having burned down the last of the orc's ladders.

"May Madara preserve us," cursed the black-haired boy. The shinobi's eyes then turned to a different spot. Curious, Gimli followed his gaze. Minato had all but annihilated the left flank of the army by the Deeping Wall, and seemed to have noticed Hoshi's predicament. In a (yellow) flash, the man teleported from his spot to the causeway and grabbed the boy before jumping up to the battlements. Seconds later, an explosion occurred at the base of the causeway, blowing it up. The exhausted, wounded boy was furious. Gimli aided Minato in keeping Hoshi from leaping over the edge to rejoin the fray.

"Let me GO!" he screamed, his pale face contorted with bloodlust and pain. His teacher turned the child to face him and slapped the boy across the face.

"Do you want to kill yourself?" Minato asked softly. "Go to the hospital. You are badly hurt,"

Obito put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Come, brother. You've already proven yourself, no need to send yourself over the edge,"

Hoshi reluctantly allowed his foster brother to steer him to the hospital, limping the whole way. Thèoden walked up to them and looked over the ramparts.

"That might become a problem," murmured the King, commenting on the nonexistant causway.

Gimli shrugged. "I don't think so, my lord. The Uruk-hai have run out of ladders, so they have no way to get in,"

Minato shook his head. "They might not have ladders, but they do have bodies," he mumured, yawning. "I think that might be the long waited for sunrise in the distance. I hope you do not mind me taking a brief nap to replenish my energies,"

Thèoden waved the shinobi off. "You may do what ever you wish. I will be forever in your debt,"

Walking off, Minato shot a grin back at the King. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Thèoden-sama,"

* * *

><p>Aragorn wanted nothing more to take a nap, but he had a self-inflicted duty to fufil. Rin and Kuro insisted that he only had to heal the elves, but when neither healer was availible the ranger took over their duties. He hated to see anyone in pain, and did whatever he could to ease the soldiers' suffering.<p>

"Strider, what did we say about healing patients that aren't elves?" said Kuro, startling Aragorn. The dark-eyed healer stood behind him, looking displeased. "While we appreciate your skill and admire your kindness, Rin and I told you to stick to elves for a reason,"

The ranger's grey eyes narrowed. "These men are in pain, and you are taking too long to get to them,"

The Uchiha exhaled through his nose and put the index and middle fingers of both hands together in the form of a cross. With a puff of smoke, another Kuro appeared.

"Now I can be in two places at once. Take a nap, Strider, you are dead on your feet,"

Shooing the tall man away from an injured Rohirrim, Kuro #1 took over. Aragorn, feeling weary and irritated, reluctantly agreed to go take a much need rest. Walking out of the hospital into the hallway, the ranger found a quiet alcove and quickly feel asleep. He dreamed that Legolas had married the White Tree of Gondor, and Frodo was presiding over the ceremony. Gimli was wearing one of Eowyn's dresses, and the White Lady herself was dressed in Minato's clothes. He was standing next to Hoshi, who was dressed exactly like him.

_"Should I be the one to tell Legolas that the White Tree is dead, father?"_ he asked, with a deeply concerned look on his face.

_"Dead? The White Tree blooms, my son,"_ the words quickly fell from Aragorn's lips, shocking him. The White Tree in front of him was clearly dead, and Hoshi was most definately not his son.

The boy chuckled. _"That is what mother said, Ada. But you both must be thinking of a different tree. Should I tell Legolas that his beloved is dead?"_

Aragorn's dream self shook his head. _"It would be cruel to tell him that, Eldarion. Let him be happy, if not for a little while,"_ Once again, Aragorn shocked himself. He was talking to Hoshi, not whatever name he uttered. While trying to figure out what he said, the ranger was tackled by Gandalf, who was shaking him.

"Wake up, Strider! Wake up Aragorn!"

The man slowly opened his grey eyes to see Kuro and Obito standing above him, each with a hand on his shoulder.

"We need your help," the two Uchihas said in unison.

* * *

><p>Legolas sighed, shooting a couple orcs in the eye, killing them. But his new kills simply added to the corpse ladder the Uruks were making to reach to gate.<p>

"I would stop shooting if I were you," grumbled Gimli. The dwarf was tired, but not short-tempered, at least not yet. But the horizon was staring to bleed red, a welcome sight after the long night.

"You just do not want me to beat you in the final tally," Legolas said playfully. Gimli gave him a grim chuckle.

"As if an elvish princeling could beat a dwarf," he retorted half-heartedly. The elf smiled, putting down his bow. Hearing the sound of approaching feet, the blonde archer turned his head to see Anko and Kakashi.

"Is it dawn yet?" grumbled Anko. The girl's outlandish pink cloak of sorts had not faired well in the battle. It was covered in black and red blood and there was a tear near the hem.

Her silver-haired companion shrugged. "It's before dawn," he muttered. Both looked over the edge of the battlements.

"Why didn't we blow up the causeway a long time ago?" asked Anko, watching the orcs attempt to build their own bridge.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Maybe because we want to get out of the place?" he suggested.

"Oh yeah. Didn't think about that," she said, her face tinged pink with embarressment. Anko promptly turned to the amused elf.

"See? This hasn't been so bad, Legolas-san," she said with a smug tone. Kakashi rolled his eyes and Gimli hid a grin. The elf gave the girl a comical frown, causing her to laugh.

"Today is going to be a promising day," Anko said confidantly, looking at the sunrise. "I can feel it,"

* * *

><p>Aragorn's eye's widened imperceptibly and he swallowed quietly. Hoshi was stripped to his small clothes and laid out on a cot, unconscience. His pale, lanky body was covered in cuts bruises and all sorts of abrasions. Looking at the boy's chest, he could see that one of his ribs was broken.<p>

"I managed to stabilize his chakra and I stitched some of his deeper wounds close, but I am unable to do anything beyond that," said Rin with a slight quaver in her voice. "You can help him, right?"

Aragorn nodded. "I have seen worse and healed worse," he said, when Kuro shoved a strange-smelling cloth in his hands.

"Clean your hands. Don't want you to infect anything," he muttered, giving the ranger an untrusting look.

Giving in to pettier emotions, Aragorn glared right back at the boy. The Dunedain wiped his hands with the cloth, understanding the relation between cleanliness and infection. Gathering his _athelas_, Aragorn focused all his energy on healing Hoshi, who seemed to be coming to. He threw the herbs into a bowl of boiled water, releasing their soothing scent. The boy gave a pained moan, his eyelids fluttering.

_"Ssshh,"_ he murmured, dipping a clean cloth into the water. Aragorn then began to clean the cut on Hoshi's forehead. The cut hissed slightly as it closed, and the child groaned in pain.

_"Ssshhh,"_ he murmured again, cleaning all the cuts on the boy's face, slowly ridding it of layers of sweat and grime. The cuts slowly closed, and Aragorn moved from his face to his shoulders.

Hoshi bore the pain quite well, rarely revealing how much he was reciving. The ranger cleaned the wounds on his arms, the boy hissing when he cleaned a perticularly deep cut. Moving on from the healing arms, Aragorn carefully began to treat Hoshi's badly damaged chest. When Aragorn attempted to heal the broken rib and its bruised fellows, the shinobi began to hyperventilate, gasping and whimpering in an attempt to relieve the pain.

_"Ssshh,"_ he murmured, stroking the poor child's elf-like face. _"Everything will be alright,"_

Hoshi slowly regained control over his breathing, tears streaking down his face. Aragorn attempted to continue healing his chest but Hoshi began to hyperventilate again, hiccuping between sobbing gasps. The Dunedain began to stroak the boy's dark, tangled hair, singing a song to calm the child.

_"The Road goes ever on and on _

_Out from the door where it began. _

_Now far ahead the Road has gone, _

_Let others follow it who can! _

_Let them a journey new begin, _

_But I at last with weary feet _

_Will turn towards the lighted inn, _

_My evening-rest and sleep to meet,"_

Hoshi's breath evened out, and the boy began snoring softly, broken only by the occasional whimper. Aragorn looked sadly at the sleeping boy, quickly healing his ribs.

_"He is too young to be fighting,"_ he thought as he continued to clean Hoshi's wounds as dawn's first light seeped through the windows.

* * *

><p><strong><span>AN<span>:**

**I have no idea how Aragorn heals people using Kingsfoil, so using my knowledge from reading other fanfiction, that above is the result. If any of you do know, than please let me know. Also, anyone of Númenórean descent has the potential to have a range of mental powers, but I cannot find a good discription of what they are and how they work. So if any of you know, please let me know.**

**The song is from the books, I got it off a site called The Grey Havens.**


	20. Chapter 20

**AN:**

**Thank you DreamingIn2Eternity and Immortalis Cruor Elf for reviewing! **

**DreamingIn2Eternity: It was the perfect spot, but I don't believe I pulled it off too well. This could have been done with less drama, but it seemed to fit my overall scheme, so yeah. I am saving any sort of big reveal for Return of the King plotlines, which will start next chapter, in a Different story. **

**Yes, it is sudden, but I feel that Part II has ended, so this is the last chapter of part II.**

**Thank you everyone for the support!**

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><p>Kakashi rubbed his arm, conscience of the injury he had received that night. Dawn had finally and fully broke upon them, causing the <em>oni<em> to slow down their work.

"Has no one told them that they can leave?" asked Anko, drinking a cup of coffee. The loud kunoichi was perched on the edge of the ramparts, looking down at the Uruk-hai.

"If we told them to leave, they wouldn't listen," pointed out Kakashi, eyeing the caffinated drink. The chūnin yawned, shaking his head to clear his clouding thoughts. Gimli walked over to the shinobi, also holding a cup of coffee.

"They still haven't arrived yet?" he asked, taking a sip. Kakashi blinked, wondering where the dwarf had gotten the coffee.

"Nope," responded Anko, removing a granola bar from her pocket, peeling off the wrapper. Kakashi nudged her arm.

_*"Don't litter,"*_ he warned. The girl made a face at him, but re-pocketed the wrapper. Legolas joined them, holding a stein in his graceful hands. The Hatake quickly glanced into the mug, seeing that it contained tea.

"What a beautiful morning it is today," he said, cheerful. Several elves walked behind them, carrying muffins and steins filled with tea. Kakashi turned to Legolas, determined to solve this mystery.

"Where did you get the tea?" he asked, his stomach growling. The archer chuckled, giving him a large grin.

"Apparently, Minato convinced several of the women to make some food. Most unfortunately, Lady Eowyn decided to join them,"

Kakashi nodded in thanks and was about to go get some food when a shout rang through the air.

"The reinforcments have arrived!" cried a Rohirric soldier, who was holding a slice of bread in his hand. Sure enough, charging down the hill was a calvery of roughly one thousand men and horses, lead by none other than Gandalf. A cheer rose up from the men and elves in the keep, none louder than Mitarashi Anko.

"WAHOO! Kick their asses!" she just about screamed into Kakashi's ear. Wincing, the masked boy looked down at the battle.

"Should we go help them?" he fretted, directing the question to Gimli.

"No, laddie," he answered, pausing to have a sip of coffee. "Gandalf and the Rohirrim are, as Miss Anko put it, kicking their asses,"

The chūnin stifled a laugh. It was true though, nearly none of the orcs were still alive.

"Looks like Gandalf has returned with the guy who threaten to cut off Gimli's head,"

Kakashi turned to see Obito, who was actually not wearing his goggles.

"I believe the man's name is Eomer," muttered Kakashi. The Uchiha simply rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, Yeah," he said, waving off his teammate's correction. "Do you have any soda?"

The Hatake gave his teammate a look before slowly shaking his head. "No. Why?"

Obito gave a huff before leaning against the stone ramparts. "Hoshi has become delusional again," he said casually.

Anko spat out her coffee, clearly evesdropping. "You have got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed.

Kakashi groaned, remembering the last time this occurred. "Go see Minato-sensei. He might have something,"

Obito promptly ran off, darting through the cheering crowd.

"May Kami preserve us," grumbled Anko, downing the dregs of her coffee as the last orcs was beheaded.

* * *

><p>Aragorn rarely panicked. As a leader, it was a disastrous because it caused others to panic. The ranger was proud to say the very little made him panic. But having one's ribs crushed by a terrified child who clearly was not in the right state of mind did not do much to prevent his own well hidden panic from raising.<p>

"Will you calm down!" cried Susano'o, who had joined Aragorn and several other elves in attempting to soothe Hoshi. "For the last time, no one is hiding in the bandage basket, see?" the shinobi said, holding up an empty basket.

Aragorn had dozed off by Hoshi's bed, worn out from healing the boy's numerous wounds. He had woken up minutes before Hoshi, his mind still muddled from sleep. The child looked alright at first, but it was when the boy first addressed him as _Ada_ that he knew something was wrong.

"But no one was hiding in the closet, were they?" protested Hoshi between hystarical sobs. "Then Sannor was dead the next morning! Stabbed by someone hiding in the closet!"

Susano'o sighed, a sympathetic look in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. One of the elves, named Amras, asked Hoshi a question.

"Who is Sannor, Little One?" he asked kindly.

The boy's grey eyes flooded with tears and he returned to sobbing in Aragorn's shoulder. The ranger was unsure how long the child had attached himself to him. His shoulder had been soaked by Hoshi's previous tears, leaving a stain in the cloth.

_"You say you save lives Ada, but who's are you saving now?"_ he whispered hoarsely. _"First Rosso, then Thurin, then Poldo, then Sannor, now Gîl?" _

"What in Madara's name is going on here?"

All the elves and Susano'o looked up and Aragorn turned his head to see Rin, Kuro and Obito standing in the threshhold of the hospital.

"About time you showed up," grumbled Susano'o. "He's past Poldo already and we cannot get him to calm down,"

Rin made a quick motion with her hand, and Obito ran off. She walked over to her sobbing teammate, a look of sorrow and concern on her face.

"He **is** calm," she said, kneeling beside Aragorn. "What we need to do is get him out of the delusion,"

An elf with a sling turned to Rin, a worried look on his face. "Is this normal?" he asked.

The brunette shook her head as Hoshi began to mumble into Aragorn's shoulder.

_"Gîl was poisoned this morning. There he was, lying on the floor, mouth all bloody,"_

Rin's eyes widened. "This is new," she whispered. "We always stop him before he tells us Gîl died,"

_"He drank the milk that was left out for me. My friend will be buried next morning,"_

Aragorn was troubled by Hoshi's recounting of all his friend's deaths. They were killed by knives, poison, loosened saddles, and stragulation. He remembered that Hoshi once said that all his friends died. Aragorn was stunned they all died in what sounded like assassination attempts.

_"He lasted three years of being my friend, Ada."_he whispered into the ranger's ear._ "__You don't seem to undersand that my friends die. So stop getting me new ones, Ada,"_

Kuro's dark eyes sparked with understanding. The young healer bent down and whispered something into Rin's ear. Her eyes widened as well.

"Aragorn," she said softly. "You are going to have to give Hoshi to one of us and leave the room,"

The Dunedain blinked with shock. "Whatever for?" he replied, bewildered. "I don't think I can hand him over to any one of you, even if I tried,"

_"I want Naneth, Ada,"_ he whispered, loosening his grip on Aragorn's neck. Amras, being the most healed out of the elves, gently pried Hoshi's hands off the ranger and gathered the delicate-looking boy into his arms. Aragorn slowly got to his feet, his sprained ankle not fully healed yet. Hoshi's grey, glassy eyes widened.

_"Ada? Why are you leaving,"_ he whispered. The man gave him a small smile.

_"I have to go, Little One,"_ Aragorn responded in Elvish. _"I'll be back soon,"_

Both Rin and Kuro were giving him looks and motions to hurry out of the room. Sighing through his nose, the ranger limped out of the room. He was halfway down the hallway before he heard a wail. Aragorn was about to turn around when Obito sprinted past him, running into the room. The man shook his head, feeling a small bit of anger towards the shinobi.

"Hoshi lost his senses, didn't he?"

Aragorn turned to see Minato, who was leaning against the stone wall. The ranger could feel irritation flare up within him, but he controlled his emotions.

"You must see it so often that it must be a normal occurance," he said coldly to the indifferent shinobi. A shadow crossed Minato's face, before being replaced by a drained look.

"I understand that children should not fight. Our entire village understands that. No Sensei wants to see their students hurt,"

"Then why?" asked Aragorn, pleading for an answer. The yellow-haired shinobi shrugged.

"Hoshi's mind is different from ours, and he comes from a different culture. This is how he copes with pain and death. I have no other answers for you," he sadly replied.

The ranger sighed, satisfied that Minato did look out for his student's well-being.

"I have one more question for you," he said. The shinobi raised a yellow eyebrow.

"Shoot," he said, gesturing with his hand. "What is it that you'd like to know?"

Slightly taken aback by Minato's language, the ranger paused before asking his question.

"Why does Hoshi call me 'father'?"

The matter had been eating at him for many days. In fact, it had been troubling him since the boy hugged him in the Mines of Moria. Aragorn had passed it off as a reaction of fear, but now he wasn't so sure. Hoshi had taken great pains to avoid him in Lothlorien, spending more time with Boromir. After the man's death, Hoshi had spent more time with him, but the boy always seemed to be holding back a great amount of affection. Aragorn glaced over to the jōnin, who seemed frozen.

"Why does he call you father?" murmured Minato, stroaking his chin. "Hmm. I believe that it is because you remind him of his own father, in appearence and manner,"

"I suppose that makes sense," muttered Aragorn, not totally convinced. As usual, the shinobi were hiding something.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" the teacher pushed off the wall and strode over to the Dunedain. "Gandalf would like to talk to you. He's waiting in the throne room for you,"

Aragorn hid his surprise, as he was completely unaware that Gandalf had arrived. "Thank you," he murmured, before walking off to meet with the White Wizard.

* * *

><p>Obito blinked rapidly after Hoshi spat an entire mouthful of soda into his face.<p>

_"Of all times, now I choose not to wear my trusty goggles,"_ he thought sardonically. But Hoshi seemed to have come out what Rin figured was a self-inflicted genjutsu.

"It...seems that I slipped away again," Hoshi whispered, looking ashamed. The elves, however, look very relieved.

"We all thought that you might never return!" claimed an elf with a patch over his eye. The others nodded.

His foster brother turned tomato red. "I don't know if I can live this down," he groaned, burying his face in his hands. Susano'o gave him a small grin.

"I do believe that Strider was rather uncomfortable with being called Father,"

Hoshi's face blanched and he looked at Susano'o, horrified.

"I said that?" he whispered. Rin put a hand on his thin shoulder.

_*"I don't think he thought much of it,"*_ she said, before turning to the elves.

"I thank you for your help," the medic said gratefully, bowing slightly.

They stood up and bowed to Rin. "We thank you and your people. If not for them, many of us would have been dining with Mandos,"

The brunette and the other shinobi ducked their heads in modesty. Obito and Kuro both rubbed the back of their heads.

"It was the least we could do," murmured Hoshi shyly, rubbing his pointed ears.

The least injured of the elves, who had been holding Hoshi, stepped forward and put his hand over his heart.

"You all will always be a welcome guest in my home, shinobi,"

Obito couldn't help but give a large grin. He then heard a rapping of knuckles on stone. Minato-sensei was standing in the doorway.

"My students, Kuro and Susano'o need to come with me," he said with a small smile, inclining his head toward the elves, who returned the nod. Obito offered Hoshi his hand, which the lanky boy eagerly took.

"Whoa, there!" said the Uchiha as Hoshi stood up, swaying slightly.

"I'm okay," claimed the boy. Obito raised an eyebrow. He could see bandages under a navy blue shirt, one of Obito's old ones. His foster brother was also wearing an old pair of kakai pants. Hoshi threw a deceptively strong arm across Obito's shoulder.

"Let's go," he said cheerfully. Obito grinned as he and Hoshi stumbled out of the hospital after their teacher.

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><p><strong>End of Part II<strong>

**Part III will be continued in a new story.**

**Thank you all for the support!**


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